CRIMSON TRUST
by Yami Neferbre
Summary: *discontined* Yami has always been lied to, always been betrayed and hurt. Working as a special agent for the CSI crime lab in Miami he finds peace while raising his younger siblings. But an old enemy has returned, forcing the horrors of his past to
1. Chapter 1

**Author:** Yami Neferbre  
**Title: Crimson Trust**  
**Disclaimer**: I do not own Yugioh, or CSI Miami  
**Paring**: SetoxYami  
**Rating**: R (just to be safe with the content)  
**Warning**: Violence, language, sexual content, mention of rape (it's not really noticeable yet)  
**Spoilers**: None  
**Summary**: Yami has always been lied to, always been betrayed and hurt. Working as a special agent for the CSI crime lab in Miami he finds peace while raising his younger siblings. But an old enemy has returned, and a wonderful man just entered his life. Can he trust a stranger, or will he simply give up on life all together.  
**Status: **1?

_**ONE**_

Trust was a rare thing for him to give. He had been betrayed, broken, used, and manipulated so many times that his trust in others was thin. There was only a select few that had gained that precious trust, and that wonderful bond with him, and those that had that honour cherished it like gold and the rarest gems.

At the rip age of sixteen he had what little good remained in his world come crashing down upon him and his younger siblings. Their mother, their sweet precious mother had been murdered before his very eyes. The reason, she had finally realized why her son was so afraid, so frail, so bruised, and so quiet. Lucien, her life long partner, had beaten her to death when she found out what he had been doing to their eldest child for the past eight years.

He had tried to stop Lucien from hurting her, killing her; but all he received was a beating and a gunshot wound to his underdeveloped lung. From there he was forced to watch him beat her, once she pretended that she was dead Lucien moved back to him, beating him hard enough that when he closed his eyes a while later he fell into a coma. From there Lucien had left, never to be seen again for another two years.

Before he had fallen to that deep dark oblivion of silent unconsciousness where you could hear and feel nothing she came to him, crawling as best as her once strong body could. She held him firmly, apologizing for being so blind to the truth and not stopping it sooner, she spoke soft words to him assuring him that everything would be alright, but he was not so sure. She stroked his cheek, lulling him to sleep with a lullaby that he used to so love.

The sleep that he fell into kept him in its clutches; it never wanted to let him go, it never wanted him to wake and return to his family, it wanted him to stay with it. If the sleep had emotions, he would have described them as a mirror reflection of himself.

For the better part of six years he had been technically raising his two siblings Akalia and Yugi. They had stayed in a foster home for two years, until Lucien returned and had his fun with his son one last time before killing the foster parents and leaving. At that time he had just begun to love his foster parents, and was becoming thankful to them for taking them in.

From there he took them away to Miami, gained his Bachelor of Science degree and his forensic science courses needed to gain him a decent job with the Miami CSI. He took full responsibility and custody of Akalia and Yugi, rapidly becoming their legal guardians once he turned nineteen. Joey Wheeler, his life long friend and the only person that had known about the scars that he had gained from Lucien lived with him as well, both paying the bills to afford their rather large and comfortable home.

Joey, as he remembered, was the one who insisted on taking pictures and keeping files on the injuries that Lucien had inflicted upon his young body. Those records would become practical in later events as he would soon find out.

But now the two of them, Yugi twelve and Akalia fifteen, went to a decent private school and were able to come home to well cooked meals, their brother's open arms, and Joey's helping hands.

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Hanging up the phone after saying a brief good-bye to Frank Gabriel, his boss, he pulled on a navy blue wind breaker, "Yugi, Kalie," he called. Kneeling down in front of the door he pulled on a pair of sneakers and began to tie them while he called out again, "Yugi, Kalie, come down here please".

"Yugi's outside somewhere," said Joey as he came towards his friend from the kitchen, "K-ster is around here somewhere with Amy".

Narrowing his eyes Yami Hanata went to the bottom of the stairs beside him leading to the next floor, "Akalia come down here please," he yelled up. Immediately the sound of music being turned down and a door opening reached his ears. A young raven haired girl dashed down the stairs, her ice blue eyes laughing, and her smooth tanned skin glistening with lotion and sweat. Yami crocked an elegant brow at her, his violet eyes questioning.

"What," she said with a giggle as her red haired friend Amy came bounding down the stairs, "we were doing our homework".

"Right," he said sarcastically being met by giggles from the two girls, glancing back at Joey he smiled when his friend rolled his eyes sky ward before turning back to his younger sister, "I need you to run the vacuum through, and tell Yugi to tidy up the house, I don't have time to do it now".

Kalie's face grew serious, the warm glow diminishing, "another case I take it," she asked, he nodded simply, reaching forward she hugged him briefly before giving him a kiss on the cheek, "come home before midnight, you have to go tot the doctors in the morning remember".

"I know," he said before giving her a small encouraging peck on the brow, "I'll be home hopefully, I cannot make any guarantees".

"Just come home," she said before dashing back up the stairs.

With a sigh Yami turned back to the entry way and opening the door stepped out into the hot Miami sun. A slight breeze began to ripple through his hair, grunting he wiped his his wild crimson, ebony, and golden hair into a ponytail and pulled a hat over top, on the front of it in white letters was C.S.I.

Clambering into the silver Volvo he shoved the key into the ignition and backing out of the drive way sped off to the beach, tonight was going to be a long night he could tell.

Pulling into the parking lot he smoothly turned into a slot and come to a halt, glancing out the window he narrowed his eyes, the familiar yellow tape was set up to section off the crime scene on the busy white sand beaches of south Miami. The wind lightly played with the thick leaves of the palm trees around him and increased the pounding of the waves against the shores. White caps could be seen on the crystal clear blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The familiar sweet yet crisp smell of the sea filled his nostrils, but it never once caught his attention.

Pedestrians that protested loudly demanding to see what was transpiring had been pushed to the side and now ere being controlled by several police officers. Scowling slightly he slipped out of the car carrying his leather bag with him. Stepping under the yellow tape he was immediately confronted by an officer, flashing his badge briefly he watched the man inspect it before politely apologizing and stepping aside. Rolling his eyes slightly with a grunt he strode towards where his team stood taking pictures if something upon the sandy ground under the shade of a tall tree.

One of them turned to him; a man with deep brown hair, and emerald eyes, he smiled, "finally Mr. Hanata has decided to show up," he teased.

Crocking an elegant brow Yami placed his bag upon the ground as the others turned to him, snapping open the clips and prying the bag open he reached inside, "sorry, Gabe just called me a few minutes ago," he apologized before turning his attention to the body in front of him. It was a young woman, early twenty by the seem of things, blond haired, thin faces, wide and open blue eyes, and covered in a thick layer of crusted blood.

The stench was abhorrent; obviously she had been out in the sun for a couple of hours untouched. Snapping on a pair of rubber gloves Yami did not bother to glance up at his friends before he began to carefully peel away the blood crusted clothing from her torso, "who found her".

Elijah Abel, the first man who spoke crossed his arms, "two pedestrians, thirteen-year-old girls, they are being tended to right now".

Yami glanced back at him before covering the woman's mutilated torso with her shredded clothing; apparently who ever did this was not satisfied with one blow.

"Two gun shot wounds," began Cora Thadine, a dark haired coroner with an eye for detail, "execution style". Grunting Yami ran his digits over the metal wire around the woman's wrists, they had begun to bruise before she died from lack of circulation.

Reaching into his bag he pulled put a pair of clippers and carefully placing the now open blade over the wire snipped it cleanly, no fraying occurred from his experience with scissors, "time of death," he asked as Elijah took the wire carefully from him and placed it into a plastic bag, quickly labelling it with his neat writing.

Cora gently ran her digits over the woman's bloodstained hair, "nine yesterday evening, possibly ten. Apparently the executioners thought that just the gun shots to her back and head were not enough. They stabbed her ten times, five between the two shots, and five more afterwards. The first two had to have hit her lungs, so she was more than likely dead before the headshot. I would assume that it is gang related but that is not my department".

"It might be," agreed Taita, the half Egyptian knelt down beside Yami and peered at his two friends with deep blue eyes, "but we cannot make any assumptions yet. Let's get the body back to the lab so that you can do a full scale autopsy".

Nodding Cora rose to her feet and dusted her jeans off, "I can live with that, talking to the dead is always more civilized than talking to the living. I am wearing the wrong type of clothes anyway to do it out here. You two go check out the other body with Elijah".

Yami glanced at her, "there's another body".

Smiling she winked at him, "yep, it's another woman, mid fifties with he same style of death. Gabe and Jason are looking around for another one with the others just in care there was another," she explained.

Grunting in understanding Yami rose to his feet, "alright then, we will meet you back at the lab, don't get too bored talking to your new dead friends," he said before leading Taita over to where Elijah was now kneeling with a forensics officer.

Squatting down Yami changed his gloves before carefully pulling the woman's grey-brown hair out of her face. She was very beautiful even at her estimated age. High cheek bones, pale skin, deep blue eyes glazed over with death. She stared up at him, her expression unafraid and awaiting her inevitable fate. Her appearance was familiar, from where he could not yet pinpoint.

Elijah heaved a sigh, "she must have been someone born or has lived in a high classed home. Look at her outfit, my wife has that dress; it's from Europe, three thousand dollars US".

"You allowed her to buy that," exclaimed Taita as he watched Yami carefully go through her purse and the leather jacket she wore.

"Her parents bought it for her twentieth birthday," he said scratching his neck, "she was born into a pretty wealthy family".

Yami crocked a brow as his hand found a chain around her neck, pulling it carefully out from within the folds of her dress he found that it was a rather large oval shaped locket. Gentle he opened it and stared at the two pictures within.

The first one was of a bright grey eyed boy with long raven hair and a wide luminous smile. He appeared to be relevantly the same age as Yugi, twelve or thirteen. The other was of a young man appearing to be in his early twenties. Handsome with slightly tanned skin, thick chestnut hair, and deep cerulean eyes filled with love, pride, freedom, and the wisdom of a man three times his age. Both were dressed in expensive black suits, a beautiful blue silk dress shirt, and a silver tie done to perfection.

He could tell by looking at them that they were her sons, both of them held her facial features, and the eldest boy inherited her eyes and hair as well.

"Lets get her back to the lab, we need to start some research," said Yami rising to his feet, pulling the plastic gloves off with a resounding snap, "we are not going to solve this case sitting on our asses on the beach".

"True," agreed Taita, "we'll hitch a ride with you, we came with the ballistics team first, and trust me they have no taste in music whatsoever. I died in the first five seconds of the ride". The three friends laughed heartily before clambering into Yami's SUV and driving off to the station, Linkin Park blaring through the speakers, windows down and hair flailing,

Cool conditioned air greeted them as they entered the CSI building. White sterile walls, stainless steel, clean grey tiles, and clear windows met them as they slowly weaved their way through the many hallways towards the forensics lab. Turning a corner the three friends spotted a man storming out of the morgue, Cora snapping at him angrily.

"This is not your case, back off Kent," she snapped before spying the three CSI's, "Yami I need you with me, I found something already that you might want to hear about".

Kent rounded on Yami, his deep brown eyes narrowed angrily, "this is my Case Hanata and you know it, day time cases are mine, not yours".

Crocking a brow Yami crossed his arms, face placid and eyes mocking, "Not if I am assigned to it, you are not qualified for a case of this magnitude obviously, or Colonel Gabriel would have allowed you to do it. Gabe assigned me to this case; he knew that you and your tendency to be incompetent would stall it. As well, he knew that my team will have it done twice as fast," his voice was calm yet mocking.

Growling Kent strode forward, stopping right before the smaller man hoping that his immense height and musculature would intimidate the smaller man. But Yami stared at him with an even and confident gaze, his face serene with a slight smirk. Scowling Kent leaned down so that their faces were centimetres apart, "watch what you say, Yami, don't mess with people that could easily pound you into the ground".

"I have fought against a man twice your size, and far stronger than you and won," Yami snapped, his eyes growing dark, "don't mess with me".

Kent gave out a small, cocky laugh, it was thick with disbelief and mockery, "who says that I would only be one person, and who said it was just you we were attacking".

"Hey Kent, that's pushing it," growled Elijah, pointing a finger at the ludicrous man. Before anyone could say a word Kent toppled to the hard cold ground with Yami on top of him, his eyes black and his face filled with fury.

"Touch them, just once, and I will hunt you down," Yami growled heatedly, "if you are going to attack anyone because of a childish rivalry, come after me. Do not involve Yugi and Akalia".

Smirking Kent sat up slightly, Yami's hands firmly grasping his trench coat, "oh trust me, I won't be doing the attacking, but I am can guarantee that you will get the blunt end of it".

"Bastard," hissed Yami as Taita pulled him to his feet firmly holding his elbows, "if you are going to make a threat, make sure that you can back it up, coward".

"Lucien would," chuckled Kent rising to his feet, smiling at the fear that flashed through Yami's violet eyes, "you know that he would".

"I know that he is not here," Yami protested, his voice unsure and shaky, "he said that he was leaving the country when he killed my foster parents, he is gone, don't mention him to me ever".

Turning Kent laughed, "don't be so sure that he's gone, remember I was the one who worked on your case all those years ago, I know all about you and Lucien. He may yet come back for more; he was always insatiable when it came to hear you scream beneath him".

Violet eyes stared at him, devoid of emotion as if a barrier had been placed over his emotions. His face was placid, unreadable, as Taita held him tightly keeping him on his feet. With a satisfied chuckle Kent left.

Immediately Yami pulled out of Taita's grasp and strode towards his office across the hall from the morgue, his steps unsteady, slamming the door he locked it making it clear that he did not want to be followed. The three of them glanced at each other, hatred for Kent shining clearly in their eyes.

"I am going to beat that guys face in if he mentions that… thing, that lunatic again," growled Elijah leaning against the wall, "he thinks he knows everything about Yami, he knows nothing".

"He knows that it gets to him," said Cora shoving her hands into the pockets of her lab coat, "he hates Yami, and Yami hates him. If I remember right Kent and his team had favoured Lucien because he paid them a lot of money. They did not believe a single thing that had happened, and apparently they were the ones that helped Lucien leave the country after his last visit a few years ago".

Heaving a sigh Taita ran his tanned digits through ebony locks, "lets get off this topic, we need to get this case started," he said tiredly.

"We will as soon as Yami is ready to come out, until then you two start some research, I'll try and identify the bodies," said Cora.

Nodding Elijah pushed himself away from the wall, "alright, we will come to you when Yami comes out," he stated before leading Taita away towards their own offices nearby. Cora watched them for a moment before she glanced at Yami's door, heaving a sigh she returned to the autopsy room, hopefully Yami would be alright.

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Taking a deep breath Cora dropped down into a chair, she had finished her work. Both victims had died from a stab to the lung, rupturing the organ from the force of the blow, and causing them to bleed to death internally before the shot to the head. Having identified them she found that they were not related, but could be either friends or simply two people in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Thousands of possibilities and scenarios to why they now lay upon the two metal beds cascaded through her head, each scenario being considered but unable to be confirmed.

Closing her eyes she reached back and rubbed her sore neck and shoulders, she needed a massage. Groaning she opened her eyes and reached out towards the phone with a delicate hand, if Jason was in she would make him give her the rubbing down that she needed, this was only because Yami was still out of commission.

Before she had even lain her hand upon the cool plastic of the phone a pair of smooth but strong hands placed themselves upon her shoulders. The owner never made a noise; he or she simply began to knead at the stiff muscles, coaxing them into relaxing. Smiling knowingly Cora leaned back against the back of the chair, her brilliant green eyes gazing up into a pair of calm violet ones.

"Hmm, feeling better," she asked gently once spotting the red tear stains on the cheeks underneath those beautiful eyes.

"Yeah, I think so," Yami murmured as he continued to massage her shoulders, "damn, why do I always react like that to the mere mention of him, I know that he is not coming back".

"Because of what he did to you," stated Cora, "in the back of your mind the nagging idea of him returning surfaces and triggers that type of reaction. Along with your fear towards him, he traumatized you Yami, I'm sorry to say it but, it may be many years before you are normal again".

He smiled wryly, "I don't even remember what normal is," he admitted, "it's been so long".

Rising to her feet she gently pulled him into a comforting embrace; he froze and stiffed at first but soon melted and relaxed into her hold. Her warmth and the friendly love from her body comforting him, and soothing his nerves, something he desperately needed.

"You'll be fine, just have patience".

"I always do," he stated as they pulled apart. Reaching up he tightened the ponytail that kept his wild hair under control before straightening out, "now what did you want to show me".

She smiled with satisfaction, "right down to business, I love that part about you," she said before pulling on a pair of gloves and striding over to the two bodies.

"Victim number one," she said picking up the case file and standing beside the blonde, "twenty-three year- old Rosa Stiht. Her record is clean; she works at Kaiba Corp as a secretary.

"Victim number two is the one and only, Azucena Kaiba, mother and half president of Kaiba Corp. Her eldest son Seto Kaiba runs the other half".

Yami narrowed his eyes, now he knew where he had seen her and her two sons. Frank Gabriel, his senior officer, had taken him to a business party at the Kaiba mansion a few months ago. As well, the family was on the TV constantly, either on the news, or on a commercial to advertise the different types of products that came from their corporation. Politely he took the profile portfolio from Cora and read through them, Rosa was a recently married woman with a set of twins, and Azucena had a thirteen-year-old, and a twenty-three-year-old. That was one connection, but a larger more significant one was that they both were involved in some way with Kaiba Corps production line in the biotechnology section of the corporation. Azucena ran it, Rose kept the records.

"What killed them, exactly," he asked.

"Stab wound," said Cora, "their lungs ruptured from the heavy impact, and from the crystal meth and acid on the weapon. Azucena died on the second last one before she was shot, and Rose from the first stab she received after the first gun shot".

Narrowing his eyes thoughtfully Yami stared down at the two women, "If the killers murdered them because of this new product, we need to find out what the product was and send a protection crew over to the Kaiba mansion to personally watch over the two sons, mostly because they probably know what the product is, and Seto probably has the schematics saved for it somewhere. As well we need to find out what their rival companies are".

Cora smiled slyly, "damn you and your ability to think up exactly what I have in two hours, you doing it in mere minute's damages my fragile ego".

"Fragile my ass," grunted Yami, smirking at her playfully, "you have a bigger ego than anyone on our team, never mind in this building," he protested.

Laughing brightly she grasped his shoulder, "Yami you have a bigger pride and ego that I do, and besides Kent has an over inflated ego on his masculinity, he uses one head more than the other," she stated, Yami burst out laughing at that and had to force himself to sit down before he toppled over.

"Holy shit," he said, slowly regaining his breath, "we have a female clone of Joey standing beside dead bodies, talking to them even".

"Hey," she protested, pointing a finger at him, "I am not as dumb and hormonal as he is. He only knows how to think with his ground, he lost his other brain years ago".

Shaking his head Yami rose to his feet, "he is not that brain dead Cora, he just acts like it and you know it. Remember he does work with the top company in the film industry doing the special effects for the movies. You could not do that job if your life depended upon it".

"True enough," she agreed with a chuckle, "now back on topic, you need to go find Gabe, Taita, Jason, and Elijah to fill them in. They have been working like blind men for the past few hours, or they have not been working at all and are throwing paper balls at each other again".

Yami chuckled fondly at the memory, "It would not surprise me if they were".

Cora shook her head, "and then Dave would have them clean up after themselves again. Anyway, you go do that, I have more autopsies to perform".

Saluting her smartly Yami turned towards the door, "is there anything else that I can do for you Master Cora".

She smiled at him wickedly, "as a matter of fact you could be a nice boy and bring me some coffee with white rum".

Shaking his head Yami opened the door, "you have weird taste woman, not to mention the fact that you enjoy talking to dead people. I'll be back with you order in a minute".

"Thank you slave".

"Don't push it".

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After retrieving two glasses of coffee, one with rum the other with cream and sugar, he delivered the one to Cora before making his way to the forensics lab, the files on the two victims under his arms. Juggling the files and coffee while trying to open the door he found to be more difficult than it originally sounded, he eventually gave up and gave the metal door a swift kick.

Hearing rushing footsteps and startled voices from within he crocked a brow, obviously they were doing everything but what they were supposed to be doing. Finally the door was opened and Taita stood flush faced in the door, "do I want to know what you all were doing," inquired Yami as he stepped into the room, spotting the scrunched up paper balls all over the room Yami crocked a brow and slowly weaved his way towards one of the tables. Taita and the others held back heavy laughter as they tired to clean up the mess around the desks and tables.

"Nothing," answered Elijah, "just wasting time".

Placing the files on one of the tables in the lab Yami chuckled, "I noticed, you better hope that Dave does not see this".

Jason, Elijah, Taita, and Frank all glanced at each other, they all held expressions of five-year-olds caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Immediately Yami burst out laughing and sat down as to make sure that he did not gall to the ground. Catching on the rest of them followed in suit, laughing boisterously.

Regaining their composure the four of them glanced at each other, shaking his head Yami opened the two files, "both of our victims were more than likely kidnapped, where that has yet to be confirmed. They were bound with metal wire, and then were stabbed five more times. The force from the stabs was enough to make their lungs rupture. The two victims are Rosa Stiht, and Azucena Kaiba".

"Type of knife," asked Frank Gabriel, crossing his arms, "and type of gun used".

Glancing over the autopsy reports Yami scowled, "hand gun, the bullets were send to the ballistics lab to be analyzed, while the knife was a Swiss army more than likely, again forensics are looking into it. But, Cora confirmed that it was covered in crystal meth, and sulphuric acid. That is probably what helped cause the lungs to rupture. As well, the wounds were slightly cauterized, so the blades were warm or hot at the time. But they were not hot enough to completely stop the bleeding".

Elijah tapped his chin in thought, "any type of connection between the two".

"Both worked for Kaiba Corporation," Yami expounded, averting his attention to his friends, "as you all know Azucena owns it along side her eldest son. She owns the biotechnology and cosmetics half of the company, while her son controls the gaming and medical research section.

"Rosa was the secretary for Azucena, she kept tabs and storied the files on the few product that they are making in the bio section. What the product is, I don't know".

Crossing his arms Taita leaned against one of the desks, "we should find that out," he said.

"Plus," Yami added, closing the folders, "we need to inform Seto and Mokuba Kaiba that their mother is dead, as well as Mr.Stiht. That is first priority".

Gabe nodded in agreement, "I will go to Mr.Stiht, Yami and Taita you go to the Kaiba's and question Seto. As of now he is one of the suspects until we rule him out. Jason and Elijah, you two do some research on the product and check on the evidence that the forensics team recovered. Move along people."

"Yes Gabe," they all said in unison before filing out of the room.

Yami was silent as they strode towards the parking lot, he could feel Taita and Gabe staring at him but he ignored it. Right now this case mattered more than his emotions. Clambering into the vehicle Yami drove off towards the famous Kaiba mansion with Taita in the passenger seat turning up the music volume as the Limp Bizket CD began to play.

A/N: I hope that all of you like this, I have been working on it on and off at school and my friends told me that I should put it up on fanfiction, so I have to slowly type things up. If you guys like it please tell me and I will gladly continue it, this story may take forever between updates so I apologize about that, this story is on the bottom of my priority list at the moment, all my other fanfics have to be updated on a regular basis, and well this one is over fifty pages written by hand in my small writing, lol. R and R please, feed back is greatly appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author:** Yami Neferbre

**Title: Crimson Trust**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Yugioh, or CSI Miami

**Paring**: SetoxYami 

**Rating**: R (just to be safe with the content)

**Warning**: Violence, language, sexual content, mention of rape (it's not really noticeable yet)

**Spoilers**: None

**Summary**: Yami has always been lied to, always been betrayed and hurt. Working as a special agent for the CSI crime lab in Miami he finds peace while raising his younger siblings. But an old enemy has returned, and a wonderful man just entered his life. Can he trust a stranger, or will he simply give up on life all together. 

**Status: **1?

**A/N:** _Most of this I had to type out from what I originally wrote out, hehe, 21 pages down about thirty more to go. Only with this chapter I added a lot, more than the first one. The first little bit of this chapter is new material, that's why it took so long, plus my bro decided to hide all of my story stuff that I have at the desk. **stupid big bros**anyway, hope you enjoy. _

_And I'm gunna thank Dragon for being such a wonderful beta, thanks for all the grammar help, hehe, I was never taught lol. _

**_TWO_**

When they reached the Kaiba mansion, the entire house was already in utter chaos. Police officers and forensics teams had gathered outside the lavish estate, sectioning the area off with the yellow tape, blocking meddlesome neighbors from contaminating the scene. Glancing at each other, eyes filled with bewilderment, Yami and Taita grabbed their gear before clambering out of the vehicle. Stretching, they dashed towards the house, flashing their badges at brute officers.

Coming into the house they peered around as forensic officers dashed about; up and down the stairs, swabbing the ceramic tile, and dusting the stair railing with the red powder that they knew so well. Locking gazes with Taita, Yami scowled briefly before striding up to one of the forensic officers that he knew. "What the hell happened here Everett?" he demanded. "And why were we not informed?"

Spinning around, Everett stared at Yami in surprise before a scowl crossed his features. "Seto and Mokuba Kaiba came home about an hour ago. They found their mother's bedroom in disarray and blood everywhere. I think we found the initial crime scene sir," he answered. "As for why we did not contact you. Kent showed up here saying that the case had been handed over to him. Obviously not I guess."

"Obviously," Yami snapped, reaching into his bag he pulled out a pair of plastic gloves. "Find Kent and get his ass out of here, get the police to drag him out of here if you have to, just get him out of this crime scene. I want you to personally make sure that all of the evidence found in this case ends up in my office and lock the door. Here I'll give you the key."

Rummaging through his pocket, Yami pulled out a ring of three keys and shoved it into Everett's hand. "Do not let anyone from Kent's team view the evidence. Take the keys to someone on my team so that they can give them back to me. Please and thank you."

Nodding, Everett closed his digits around the key chain before carefully dashing up the stairs, avoiding the areas that were being examined.

Scowling, Yami and Taita watched as the forensics team finished their work, hovering over their shoulders and barking out orders to make sure that nothing was missed. Forgetting about their main priority, the two went up the stairs, forcing one of the police officers to lead them to the bedroom.

Upon entering they held back gasps of horror. The beautiful rich red mahogany furniture was strewn about, broken and destroyed by both hands and guns. A large bay window opposite to them was shattered, the shards of glass scattered both on the inside and outside of the house. Blood patterns covered the beautiful white carpet, droplets of the thick red substance splayed in a wide area showing paths of a knife being shoved into something, and taken out in rapid and dramatic strokes.

A single smear of blood over a large area near the upturned bed indicated where a captive was held upon the floor as this transpired, struggling and writhing in desperation.

The familiar stench that Yami remembered from many years ago filled the room. Thick, rancid, and stifling, choking him as he tried to breathe. Clenching his hand over his throat, he held back a reflexive gag, tears from the smell welling in his eyes. It was the smell of death.

Violet eyes narrowed, ignoring the forensic officers that hurriedly left the room, all the while sloppily labeling their findings. The unique icy orbs were concentrated upon the window, reaching out he snatched the arm of one of the officers, one of his digits insistently pointing to the window. "I want samples of the glass, inside and outside, compare them and see which side the force as propelled to break it."

The man nodded furiously. "Yes sir," he mumbled, cowering slightly under Yami's fierce gaze barely noticing the fact that he was nearly twice his size before scampering away, bags of evidence in his hands.

"They better not have missed anything," Taita growled. "We should call Gabe and get them down here, they can re-examine the scene just in case. Sometimes I think we CSI's have better eyes and brains than those damn forensic officers."

"That surprises you?" Yami grunted, striding back to the stairs and bellowing down at the Everett down below as he directed the forensic officers out. "Everett, make sure that there are samples of the glass, and call team please, ask them to come down here with their forensic gear."

Quirking a brow, Everett chuckled. "Don't trust us Yami?" he asked.

"No, I trust you," he stated. "But not his group of skittish officers, and queasy might I add. Besides, having a double run through makes sure that nothing was missed. And get those damn rookie cops out of the building and on the sidewalk. They obviously do not know that this is a crime scene and they keep contaminating it. Get them to do their job."

"Which is?" Everett asked.

Yami snarled, pointing forcefully at the door "Keeping the pedestrians away, along with Kent and his damn team. Have a good night."

Chuckling, Everett waved up at Yami, a bright smile on his face. "Alright Yami, can do. Sleep tight buddy, later Taita," he called, vacating the house.

"Good night," Taita called before turning to Yami, patting his shoulder. "Lets got get this interview done and over with so that we can go home. Leave Gabe, Elijah, and Jason with the hard stuff."

"Hmm," Yami hummed. "Sounds like a plan."

Gathering their possessions, they clipped their bags shut and headed down the stairs, the home finally filled with a heavy and eerie silence. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, the two friends glanced around, eyes narrowed, as they searched for the household butler. They did not want to be intrusive, having already let themselves inside and inspected a rather painful section of the house for the two brothers.

Glancing at each other, they heaved twin sighs before sitting down on the tile floor a few meters from the stairs as to not contaminate them. Leaning against the couches they stared up at the ceilings, admiring the intricate flowers, angel, and dragons sculpted into the white wood, all painted in soft tones as not to overwhelm the white.

Exhaling a breath that he did not know that he was holding, Yami dropped his gaze to the floor, digits running absently over the smooth black marble tile, tracing the silver lines that twisted through the stark black like veins. It was the same tile that was in his old home, the one that he had lived in before the foster home.

He remembered that house; elaborate, elegant, and surreal. Dark tiles, beautiful oak hardwood, and gallant white carpet smooth and warm to the touch. Most of the walls were either a deep forest green, or a serene tope. Immense windows, upon the ceilings were expensive and elaborate carvings. Dark gray granite counter tops, oak cabinets, expensive furniture, and elegant materials.

It was a beautiful house, with few beautiful memories.

Brow furrowing he scowled slightly, this house was very similar to it, but white wood paneling ran in some areas like a grand scale French palace, while the colors were calm and serene, soothing to the nerves of a stressed and busy family. Blinking, he lifted his gaze, the set up was different as well, it was not as open as his had been as well. Lucien had loved that it was so open, it made it easier to find a certain someone when he wanted pleasure that his mother could never give him.

Narrowing his eyes he removed his hands from the cool tile and glanced at Taita. "Maybe we should go look for him, otherwise this may turn into a really long night, and I have a doctor's appointment in the morning," he suggested.

Taita pondered upon it, "Nah, we can't be invasive, he's probably had a rough day. Besides, someone has to come around and turn off all these lights, and only the kid is in bed, the butler and Seto are wandering around this place somewhere. This house is huge, was yours like this?"

"Yes," Yami answered slowly, absently almost. "But it was more open, Lucien preferred it that way."

"But he didn't buy the house, your Grandmother did."

Giving a small nod of confirmation Yami folded his hands in his lap. "Yes, she bought it for my Mother, my Uncle, and I. But when Lucien came back into my life, my uncle moved out and he moved in. When he started…er… doing things towards me, he told me that he loved fact that it was so open. It was easier to find me that way."

"Do you want me to stop?" Taita asked, leaning forward so that he was staring into Yami's eyes. "This is obviously bringing back some memories."

Shaking his head Yami heaved a sigh, "No, sometimes it is better out then in. The last time I tried to keep everything in I nearly destroyed myself."

"Suicide?" Taita questioned.

"Attempted," Yami answered. "I tried after Lucien forced Rohypnol into me. He planned on taking me to one of the clubs that night. Joey came in though, looking for me to figure out why I sent Kalie and Yugi over to his place. He stopped me, realized that Lucien had drugged me, and took me to the hospital. My Mother was never told till after Lucien was arrested."

Leaning back Taita continued to stare at Yami's bowed head, "When did that happen?"

"Two months before he was arrested for attempted murder on both my mother and I."

"Did he do anything to you while you were on the drug?" Taita asked, eyes narrowing.

Nodding Yami dropped his head back, resting it against the couch behind him. "I'm imagining so, because I woke up in a lot of pain, minus some clothing, and covered in a blanket. I had a black out after he forced it down my throat."

Exhaling, Taita closed his eyes, "I didn't know that he drugged you."

"He didn't do it very often," Yami assured. "Only when I fought back, or when I refused to allow of his friends to do what they wanted with me at the club."

"Am I interrupting something?" came a smooth voice, deep and alluring.

Snapping out of their conversation, Yami and Taita glanced up in surprise at Seto Kaiba, who stood beside them, slightly hunched over, and his face pale with a forced smile. Scrambling to their feet, Taita and Yami retrieved their bags and nodded, flashing their badges.

"Lieutenant Yami Hanata."

"Taita Khepresh, Miami Dade police."

Extending his hand, Seto gripped Taita's, shaking it firmly before turning to Yami. The CSI reached out to his, taking it the CEO held back an expression of surprise at softness of the skin there and the striking appearance of the one before him.

Exotic was one way to describe Yami's appearance; deep violet eyes stared back at him, emotionless and serene. Soft skin, deliciously tanned, covered lean and toned muscles. The white T-shirt that he wore highlighting his lean torso and abdomen, in fact it only increased Seto's attraction towards him. Dark blue jeans fitting the curves of those shapely legs, hugging everything in the right area.

Ebony spikes reaching towards the sky, crimson at the tips. Golden bangs rivaling that of the sun, framed his face perfectly, heightening the bronze shade of his tan, and causing his eyes to glow majestically.

"Pleased to meet you," he managed, forcing the increased amount of saliva in his mouth to flow back down his throat. "I am Seto Kaiba; I presume that you already know me to some extent."

"In the media and DNA perspective yes," Yami answered, clipping his badge to his hip again. "We need to ask you a few questions regarding your mother. Her body was found earlier today along with one of the secretaries at your corporation."

Sorrow flashed through beautiful cerulean eyes, taking a step back he placed his hand upon the couch, stabilizing himself. Taking a breath he gasped out, "She's gone?"

Giving a chaste nod Yami gazed at the CEO with slight pity, "I'm sorry to have to inform you in such a brute manner, but we need to make this meeting brief. Both of us are already being paid for six hours of over time, and we really don't want to take away your sleeping time."

"We'll I don't think that I will be sleeping much tonight. But, I will respect your wishes. Please sit down; Giles can retrieve us some refreshments."

"Thank you Mr. Kaiba," said Taita.

Turning, Seto called into the kitchen nearby, politely asking the butler within to bring out some tea and something to nibble on. Turning back he stopped in his tracks as he spotted where Yami was sitting.

Yami had placed himself upon the floor, shifting to get comfortable, and placing a pencil and pad of paper upon the coffee table. Blinking bewilderedly, he grunted before sitting down on one of the soft white couches, Taita sitting on the one closest to Yami.

Taking a breath Seto cleared his throat, removing the bulge there. "How was she murdered? Please, I need to know."

The two friends glanced at each other, seemingly exchanging a conversation before Yami turned back to him; "She was shot once in the back, stabbed five times, shot in the head, followed by five more stab wounds. Luckily for her, she died before the second gun shot, one of the wounds ruptured her lungs," he expounded calmly.

Reaching into the bag Yami pulled out the yellow case file, opening it he shoved the pictures towards the CEO, whom immediately took them. Bottom lip quivering, Seto shifted through the autopsy photos, blue eyes filled with shock, horror, and utter fury. Placing the photos back upon the table, he watched Yami retrieve them and place them carefully back into the folder before closing it.

Choking back a sob, he fought back the overwhelming tears that had begun to form in the corners of his eyes, "Why would someone do this?"

Shrugging Yami heaved a sigh, "That we are not sure about yet. But, we are beginning to believe that the murder, since Rosa Stiht was involves, has something to do with the new product that your mother was creating in the biotechnology section of the corporation."

Narrowing his eyes, Seto leaned back as Giles returned baring a tray of three china cups, a steaming teapot, and a plate of simple chocolate cookies. Placing it upon the table the butler silently poured the steaming liquid into the expensive cups, only speaking to ask the two CSI's if they wanted honey or milk in their tea. Bowing he turned away, smiling warmly at Seto as he went.

Seto returned the expression, "Thank you Giles, good night."

"Good night, Sir," Giles returned, before leaving the house, jacket in hand.

Taking his cup, Seto stared at Yami thoughtfully. "It was a beauty product, Regenerist I believe it was called. It is one of those modern day skin products. It regenerates the cells on your face to destroy dead skin, and reduce the signs of aging. It would have made an immense profit."

"Would have?" Taita questioned.

Giving a brief nod, Seto leaned forward. "My Mother decided to put it on hold while Mokuba and I finished the gaming product that we stared engineering. I am not sure if I am going to put that product out without her here, it was her product after all."

Sighing, Yami took a sip of his tea. "I see. Was there anyone that you know of that had any type of grudge against your Mother or your company?"

Shrugging, Seto placed his cup back on the table. "The only thing I can think of is our rival company, Zamora Corp. The President, Mr. Ivan Mittowski, had threatened a few times to destroy Kaiba Corp, but has never attempted to," he expounded, rubbing his neck tiredly.

Quickly scribbling down the new information on the pad alongside all the other notes he had taken, Yami heaved another sigh, exhaustion becoming evident. "Lastly, before we leave for the night, Mr. Kaiba, we need your finger prints, a DNA sample, and a sample of your handwriting, printed and handwritten if you please," he said, before pushing the pad and paper towards the CEO.

"Certainly," Seto agreed readily, taking the pen and quickly writing out a few sentences in his neat, flowing writing. Once done that, he resisted a gasp as Yami moved around the table, taking his hand gently and pressing each finger through a pad of ink, then over in certain squares on a piece of paper.

Rifling through his bag, Yami retrieved a q-tip and plastic tube, "Open your mouth please."

Without hesitation Seto did as asked, opening his mouth and ignoring the awkward sensation of the q-tip running along the inside of his cheeks, taking some of the saliva, before retracting.

Running his tongue over the areas that the instrument had gone, he watched as Yami placed the q-tip in the container then shoved it into his bag, almost moaning when he realized that the CSI was finished his work.

"Thank you for your cooperation Mr. Kaiba," said Taita, rising to his feet stiffly. "We will have two protection agents here tomorrow, along with a few police officers to watch over you and your brother. We will keep you posted."

Rising to his feet Seto led them to the door. Gripping the handle he realized something, "Hanata right?" he asked Yami as he pulled on his jacket.

"Yes," Yami answered cautiously.

"You wouldn't happen to be related to a Salatis Hanata, would you?" Seto questioned. Yami's eyes shot up to meet his own; pain, fear, and disbelief flashed briefly through his violet eyes before they became icy again.

"Not willingly," he murmured. "Why?"

Seto blinked, opening the door, hissing as the cool breeze ran over him, "Because he works at Zamora Corp. He is one of the head men in the building."

"Good to know," Yami said sarcastically, hate clear in his voice. "Thank you Mr. Kaiba, we will call you tomorrow if we find anything."

"Thank you, good night," he said, before the two left with a brief good night passing from their lips.

Closing the door to the SUV, Taita glanced at Yami worriedly. "I thought he left with Lucien," he murmured.

Yami felt his lip quiver, his fear becoming evident to his friend, "So did I."

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The continuous, annoying beeping of an alarm clock reached his ear, forcing him out of the fog that he loved to call sleep. Moaning into his pillow, he cursed under his breath, before reached over and hitting the snooze button. "Why did the appointment have to be at nine in the fucking morning?"

"Because that was the only time Maria could see you my malhablado hermano," (foul-mouthed brother) came the young, chipper voice of Yugi.

Groaning, Yami rolled over onto his back, glaring bleary eyed at his brother after translating what he had said. He was glad that Yugi had only learned Spanish, unlike him, his mother had been insistent that he learned Japanese, Arabic, Spanish, Ancient Egyptian, and Greek. His grandparents loved it, but Lucien hated it.

"She is so lucky it's a Friday," he grumbled. "And you are only off the hook from that little remark because I am not awake enough to tickle you."

Yugi smiled at him triumphantly, his large violet eye shining innocently before he dashed off to the kitchen. Grabbing a towel from the floor, Yami forced himself to his feet, while grumbling incoherently about it being way too early. Slipping into the bathroom, he showered and combed his mop of spiky hair before returning to his room, allowing his sister to take it over.

Changing quickly, he clambered downstairs. Joey and Yugi were already sitting at the table, a box of cheerios and the milk out and ready for use. Yawning, he sat down without the grace that he normally did and taking one of the bowls he poured himself some cereal.

"Not functioning yet Yami?" teased Yugi. Yami sent him a small glare before grunting. Chuckling Yugi rose to his feet, "I'll make some coffee then since Joey is falling asleep too."

"Gracias," Yami murmured out, testing Yugi on his Spanish.

Yugi pondered upon it for a moment before exclaiming, "Bienvenido."

"Good to see that your teachers are smart," Yami grunted, receiving a small smile from his brother before the boy began to rummage around in the kitchen.

Joey crocked a brow, yawning before shoving a spoonful of cereal into his mouth. "What do you have in you again?" he asked.

"Huh?"

Chuckling, Joey swallowed before continuing, ignoring the glare that he received from Yami, realizing that he was still somnolent. "What do you have in you, you know."

"Oh," Yami blinked in understanding, rubbing his eyes. "Spanish, Greek, Roman, and Egyptian."

"And your Grandfather's stepfather was Japanese right?" Joey questioned. Receiving a nod, he shoved another spoonful into his mouth.

Rubbing his neck, Yami glanced up at his friend, eyes taking in the wet blond hair, and lightly tanned skin. The blonde yawned, stretched his arms dramatically into the air before winking at him playfully. Giving his friend a warm smile Yami took a breath, "Joey, I was told something last night."

"What?" Joey asked, before taking another spoonful of cereal, golden eyes staring up at him.

"Salatis moved back," he murmured. "He is helping run the rival corporation to Kaiba Corp. So in other words, he's involved in the case."

Hazel eyes narrowed dangerously, suddenly alert as his protective side broke through. "Then be careful, try and stay away from him, I don't want that bastard hurting you."

Nodding, Yami yawned tiredly. "I'll try, I am making no guarantees. I am the lead officer on the case other than Gabe. I may have to do all the questioning, interrogations, and arrests."

"Just be careful buddy. He might try and pull something on you," Joey said before Yugi entered the room, going silent. They thanked the boy as he sent the cups on the table, pouring the steaming chestnut liquid into the cups as Kalie came down the stairs, brush running through her ebony hair.

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Hissing at the feeling of the cool metal of the stethoscope pressing against his bare torso, he glanced down at the doctor that he had known all his life. "Warn me please Maria."

The beautiful African America woman smiled, her warm laugh spreading through the room. "It is the only way to wake you up honey," she said sweetly before draping the stethoscope around her neck. Leaning against the hospital bed she locked her chocolate eyes with Yami's violet ones, "You have fluid build up again in both lungs."

"How severe?" Yami questioned, panicking instantly.

Sighing, Maria patted his shoulder. "Knowing you, severe. But, if you don't catch a cold you should be fine. You'll have to start taking your anti-biotic pills again, that way if you are catching something, hopefully it will be contained before it gets any worse."

"I don't feel sick," he murmured. "Damn, I've been doing so well - no mucus and no colds - for the past ten months. I was becoming hopeful."

"Well honey," said Maria, gently caressing Yami's arm as if she were his aunt. "You will never be perfect. That underdeveloped lung, and your low lymphocyte count that goes to those two organs, make you vulnerable to sicknesses. You know that honey."

Heaving a sigh, Yami hung his head. "Even the common cold can kill me Maria, I know. Trust me, I remember all those years of spending months in the hospital from a simple cold."

"Well, maybe the medications will prevent another long visit with me," she said. Seeing he saddened expression on his face, she caressed his cheek. "Cheer up honey."

"I don't want to spend another month in the hospital like I did last year, that was one hell of a horrible Christmas," he murmured, as he pulled his silk blue dress shirt back on, slowly buttoning it up.

Maria rubbed his cheek gently with her thumb, smiling warmly at the young man before her. She had been his nurse since he was a baby, never once leaving him from the time that she turned twenty-five to now. She loved him like a nephew, sometimes even like a son.

"Don't worry," she assured tenderly. "Just take your pills and you should be fine."

Smiling, Yami finished buttoning up his shirt."I trust you," he teased, before standing up.

"Come back next week on Monday. I'll make a time and call you," she said, as he strode towards the door. "I need to monitor you now, just in case."

Glancing back, Yami nodded. "Hopefully this does not get serious. I am on another case at the moment, high profile."

Blinking in realization, Maria placed her clipboard on the bed. "Are you investigating the Azucena Kaiba murder?" she asked.

He nodded. "I am. Are you watching it on the news or something?" he asked, grasping the door handle.

"I am. You know me, I always watch the news," she chuckled.

"True enough. Then you will see me on it again soon. The media is always shoving their cameras where they don't belong. The only time they are not is when the person is of a lower class," he stated firmly.

Maria scowled in agreement, "Things have always been that way, but seemingly, it gets worse as time progresses."

Grunting, Yami opened the door. "Society - better yet - this world is getting worse as time progresses," he said in distaste. "I have to go though; I have to be at work soon. Later, I'll see you on Monday."

"Yes, good-bye honey."

Closing the door behind him, Yami walked through the familiar white sterile halls of the hospital, the same hospital that he had been visiting since he was an infant. He waved and said hello to familiar nurses or doctors, and every once in a while the odd patient that he would see wandering the halls. He had been here so often that sometimes it felt like home, at others he felt like screaming and running as far away as he could. He had very few good memories of this place - he was usually having an appointment with Maria, or sick in a bed with a tube down his throat.

Silently, he entered one of the main waiting rooms. Resting against the wall, he stared in at the three most important people in his life. Joey, Yugi, and Akalia sat conversing freely to each other, smiling and giggling as they went. He smiled fondly as he watched them, joy filling him and warming his heart.

It soothed him to know that they had healed for the most part, from what they had seen when they were much younger. He was thankful for that; if they had turned out anything like he had - paranoid and afraid - he would never have forgiven himself. Seeing his siblings act like average teenagers, and for Joey to be so carefree and not having to constantly treat wounds, or to soothe him after one of Lucien's play times.

Just then Yugi glanced up at him, a smile spreading over his angelic face. Bounding to his feet, he wrapped his arms around his older brother, "So, how was it?"

"I'm back on my pills, there's fluid build up again," he expounded, turning his gaze towards Joey and Kalie.

"I pity you man, those things are huge," Joey cringed, shuddering before rising to his feet. "Well, let's go before the day gets old, lunch sounds like a plan since you two are out of school."

Shaking her head, Kalie rose to her feet, and brushed her ebony hair over her shoulders. "Is food all you ever thing about Joey?" she teased, retrieving her purse.

He tapped his chin in mock thought, "Hmm, girls and movies too. Oh, and annoying you two brats," he exclaimed before lifting Yugi's small frame into the air, tickling him mercilessly, and causing laughter to fill the room. Others watching the spectacle before them with mirth.

Placing Yugi back upon the ground, Joey turned to Yami, "You up for a good meal, or would you prefer your horse pills?"

Receiving a hard, playful punch, Joey stumbled back, while Yami glared at him.

"Food, thanks," Yami chuckled, allowing Kalie to link arms with him. "It has to be brief though, I need to be at work in an hour."

"McDonalds," Yugi exclaimed.

"Sure, why not?" Yami chuckled, wrapping an arm around his brother's shoulder, leading both siblings towards the door, Joey taking up the rear.

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Removing the tip of his pen from his mouth, Elijah glanced up at the sound of the lab door being kicked open. Immediately he stopped as Yami stumbled in, his black bag in hand, and a large mug of steaming coffee. Not surprised that it was the spiky haired Lieutenant he rose to his feet, sending a pleasant smile to his friend, "So, any good news my man?" he asked.

Yami shook his head, disappointment shining in his eyes. "I have fluid again. I'm back on those damned antibiotic pills. Now on to the case…. Taita and I gained some good information," he said, placing his bag on the desk. "As well, we have some prints and blood at the Kaiba house. I have all the evidence down at forensics being supervised as they analyze it."

"We got nothing," Elijah grunted, placing his pen back in his mouth. "Still no idea where Rose was grabbed do we?"

"Not a clue."

"Well, everyone is down at the cafeteria finishing lunch. You can stay with me if you want," he suggested. "Gabe still needs to tell us what he found yesterday from his interview with Mr. Stiht. Hopefully we will get somewhere today with this case."

Nodding, Yami retrieved a nearby chair. Shoving it towards the table, he sat across from Elijah, a deep breath escaping him. Leaning back he heaved a breath, listening a bit then scowled as he heard the slight wheeze in it. Snarling angrily, he pried his bag open and took out his notepad, eyes immediately scanning it, running over everything to refresh his memory.

Seto had been away when the murder was committed, but that did not mean that he was not involved in some way. Though, so far, there was no motive for him other than having the entire corporation to himself. But, if that was his incentive, then why kill Rosa? Either way, until they could rule him out, Seto was still a suspect, a guarded one, but a suspect.

Ivan Mittowski, owner of the second largest corporation in the world, and was someone who obviously ran at the mouth. He had heard about how the business man had threatened many companies, bickered with the media, and every once in a while - for the hell of it - made up ridiculous scams for press to investigate and interrogate people.

But, unfortunately, right now he was doing nothing, and there was no proof yet of Seto's claims that he had threatened the company. He didn't have any doubt that he did, but, that was not the point, the point was they needed hard-core evidence to be able to do anything. Right now, they just did not have it.

Then there was Rosa Stiht….. why was she killed along side Azucena? If it was strictly about the Regenerist product then yes, there was a reason, but if it was about Kaiba Corp. in general, then why her out of the ten secretaries within that immense building. Was it possible that she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, or did the killer plan on taking out all of the secretaries? As well, the question with her still was where she had been taken from.

Biting the corner of his lip Yami grunted. So far they had very little on this case, and they were heavily restricted on time. They had two weeks before the case would be handed over to Kent and his team - the very idea made his blood boil. Grunting again, he closed his eyes. They now needed to find proof of the threats to Kaiba Corp. and they needed to speak to Ivan as soon as possible, today preferably.

But at the moment what was concerning him was Salatis. Working as the left hand man would mean that they would have to ask him questions, or at least confront him. Right now, he did not know if he could handle that meeting. Heaving a heavy sigh, he pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to suppress the on coming headache that he felt welling in his temple.

"Headache?" asked Elijah, breaking the silence between them. Glancing up, Yami nodded. "Do you want some Advil or something?"

"Please," he murmured eagerly. With a smile, Elijah reached into his trousers, retrieved the container, and tossed the bottle over to his friend. Catching it, Yami removed the two golden pills that he needed, before throwing it back in Elijah's direction. Shoving the bottle back in his pocket, Elijah glanced back up at his friend, gagging when Yami swallowed the pills without any water.

"Damn, I hate it when you do that," he shuddered. "For the sake of my lunch, please, don't do that again."

Yami chuckled and leaned back in his seat, re-closing his eyes, "I'll try Elijah, only for you," he teased.

"Thanks a bunch."

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"The last person Rosa was seen with was Salatis Hanata," expounded Gabe as he sat comfortably on the table, file in hand and legs dangling over the edge. "Her and Salatis have been going out to dinner a lot lately to talk about 'business'. Her husband was becoming a little suspicious."

Biting the corner of his lip, Yami tapped his foot on the floor. "We need to bring both Salatis and Ivan into custody. Let's try and get as much information out of them as possible." Receiving nods of agreement he continued on. "What do we know from the evidence at the mansion last night?"

Taita shrugged, "From the scene at the Kaiba mansion we recovered a sample of someone's blood, blood that did not belong to Azucena."

"As well," added Jason, placing a group of photos on the table for all to see. "We pulled some unknown finger prints from Azucena's body, the furniture at the house, and from the wire that bound their wrists."

Grunting, Yami reached forwards and lifting one of the pictures he examined it closely, "Did you pull any prints from her locket?"

Taita shook his head in bewilderment, "We never touched it."

"Check it over along with anything else she had on her. Get a warrant for Rosa and Azucena's desks; gather the finger print file from the corporation main frame. If you find any that do not match the employees, copy them, and run them through the system. As well, go through both of their computers, search for threats from either Zamora Corp. or from and individual person.

"Azucena and Rosa were both brilliant women, they would have saved those files for future cases. Lastly, take all of their file documents and have those in forensics look through them to find all the information you can about the Regenerist product, and the full details behind it," Yami expounded. "Gabe, would you like to come with me to get out next two interrogation victims?"

Smiling, Gabe rose to his feet, retrieving his jacket from where he had hastily thrown it on a chair. "Well why not. It's more entertaining than gathering evidence. Interrogations are always fun too," the group chuckled at that before gathering their things and vacating the room, each going their separate ways.

**A/N:** _Sorry for the long wait for this chappie, but like I said, I have to type it out, fix it, and add things. Hope that you liked this chappie, R and R please _


	3. Chapter 3

**Author:** Yami Neferbre

**Title: Crimson Trust**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Yugioh, or CSI Miami, or Waste by Staind

**Paring**: SetoxYami

**Rating**: R (just to be safe with the content)

**Warning**: Violence, language, sexual content, mention of rape (it's not really noticeable yet)

**Spoilers**: None

**Summary**: Yami has always been lied to, always been betrayed and hurt. Working as a special agent for the CSI crime lab in Miami he finds peace while raising his younger siblings. But an old enemy has returned, and a wonderful man just entered his life. Can he trust a stranger, or will he simply give up on life all together.

Story idea came from the song _Waste _by _Staind_

**Status: **3/29

**A/N:** _Most of this I had to type out from what I originally wrote out, hehe, 21 pages down about thirty more to go. Only with this chapter I added a lot, more than the first one. The first little bit of this chapter is new material, that's why it took so long, plus my bro decided to hide all of my story stuff that I have at the desk. **stupid big bros**anyway, hope you enjoy. _

_Plus, I have gone through and planned the entire story, twenty nine chappies in total. Its gunna be long - hope all of you like it and stick around for the ending. _

_And I'm gunna thank Dragon for being such a wonderful beta, thanks for all the grammar help, hehe, I was never taught lol. _

_**THREE**_

_Your mother came up to me _

_She wanted answers only she should know _

_It wasn't easy to deal_

_With the tears, that rolled down her face_

_I had no answers cause I didn't even know you_

Weapons in hand, badges strapped to their waists, and eyes trained forward, they marched into the immense corporation, flashing their badges at the secretary there, and politely asking where to find Salatis Hanata and Ivan Mittowski. She was shaken but pointed in the direction of the wide staircase across from her, telling them what floor and where their officers were. Giving a curt thank you, Yami dashed up the stairs, Gabe at his side, and five Miami Dade Police officers behind him.

Taking the stairs two at a time, he raced to the next set of stairs, sprinting up them until he reached the second floor. At first he heard nothing but screaming until the officers dashed up after him, Gabe in tow.

"Gabe, you go get Ivan, I've got Salatis," Yami said over his shoulder, glancing towards the office in the far corner, the glass walls showing him the man sitting within in perfect view. The only thing between them was those walls, the two desks in the center, and the photocopy machines.

Gripping his friends shoulder Gabe questioned, "Are you up for this, after all, he is Lucien's brother."

Snarling, Yami held his gun up, "He won't try anything in public Gabe, and yes, I can handle it," he assured, urging his friend towards the stairs leading to the fourth floor, three of the officers following. "Don't worry about me."

Waiting until he could hear Gabe's feet mounting the metal stairs, Yami heaved a breath, motion for the two officers to clear the employees out of the way first, forcing them safely into one of the corners. Then, using his hands, Yami directed the two officers to block the two separate sets stairs while he directed his gun at the office.

"Miami-Dade Police, come out Salatis," Yami cried out, instantly gaining the attention of the man within. Dark chocolate eyes locked with his own, the man cursing and rising to his feet, hands in the air.

"Check him," Yami instructed, signaling for the two officers at his side to go search for weapons. The two officers nodded obediently, moving through the office equipment, and shoving the door open.

"What is the problem officers?" Salatis asked calmly, his voice steady as the two officers began to pat him down.

Moving to the door, Yami answered the question evenly, acting as if he had never met Salatis in his life. "You are being taken in for questioning regarding the recent murder of Azucena Kaiba and Rosa Stiht."

"May I ask why?" Salatis snapped, shifting as the officers finished their search and one began to rummage for his cuffs.

"In your case, you were the last person seen with Rosa before she was murdered. Actually you have been seeing a lot of her lately, so we would like to gather as much information as possible from you. You are not in any sort of trouble, unless you try and run, or don't give us the information that we ask for," Yami grunted, crossing his arms.

"Well then," Salatis grunted, "I guess that I am in trouble, nephew."

Violet eyes narrowed only to widen in shock as Salatis dealt the two cops a blow in the head, knocking them both to the ground before launching himself towards the stairs. Regaining his wits Yami sprinted after him, gun in hand and his vision concentrating on the escapee.

Barreling down the stairs, Yami watched as people scattered out of Salatis' way, screaming as they went, before the bastard slammed the doors open and dashed out onto the street. Snarling, Yami shoved the doors open, pushing them aside so that he had a clear path. The doors made him lose some well needed ground. He stumbled out onto the street, catching Salatis dashing across the street he ran after him, all the while avoiding people.

Citizens screamed as they were pushed aside by the runaway businessman, some falling to the cement sidewalks, others being shoved against the nearest building with startled cries. None wishing to get in the way of the chase and none would try to aid the running cop.

Thankful that people were moving aside and giving him a clear path, Yami sprinted at a breakneck speed after Salatis. He could hear the other police officers running not far behind him, but none of them would be able to provide him much help at the moment. One, they could not keep up with him, two, they were too far behind to catch Salatis on their own.

Careening around a corner, Yami just barely dodged a pedestrian as he hurtled down the street; Salatis was only a few feet in front of him. With a final acceleration of speed Yami launched forward, arms wrapping tightly around Salatis' neck, forcing the man to tumble to the ground from the sudden weight.

Crashing to the pavement, Yami felt the wind being knocked out of his torso as his ribs connected with Salatis' shoulder blade. Gasping for a moment he shook his head before regaining his composure as the other officers dashed around the corner. Shifting he straddled himself on his uncles back, reaching to his belt and retrieving the cuffs there before roughly pulling Salatis' arms backwards, snapping the cuffs on before rising to his feet, allowing the officers to handle him from there.

Finally having taken a break Yami hunched over, breath heaving as Salatis was dragged yelling to his feet. He barely comprehended what was being spoken by that voice that was so similar to the one that had mocked him for years. Slowly catching his breath he rose up again, staring at Salatis as they waited for a car to come around and pick him up. Scowling at the man he grunted, "You used to be a better runner than me Salatis, what happened?" he mocked.

Salatis growl, lunging at him only to be held back by the officers, receiving a swift hit over the head. Snarling, he glared at his nephew, his alluring chocolate eyes clouding over with furious anger, "Been out of practice."

Chuckling, Yami placed his hands on his hips, ignoring the watching eyes of the pedestrians, "Really now, if I remember right you have been running from the law for the last how many years, remind me?"

"Six and a bit."

"Then you'd think that you would be a master at evading people," Yami snapped, averting his attention to the police car that rounded the corner.

"Like I said, Yami, I have been out of practice," Salatis protested, struggling against the hold of the officers as they shoved him towards the open door of the car. "I haven't had to run much anyway, just from the phoney claim that Frank Gabriel made towards me. I did not help Lucien out of the country if that is what this is about."

Narrowing his eyes, Yami signalled for the officers to shove him in the car, "I'll believe that with some proof," he snarled, before entering the front seat of the car, closing the privacy window. The officer driving glanced at him, silently asking for permission to turn on the radio, nodding Yami leaned back in his seat, bliss spreading through his features as the music drowned out Salatis' complaining as they drove back to the station.

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Violet eyes peered through the pane of glass into the room beyond; he was invisible to those within, both Salatis and the police officer guarding him, all they could see when they peered in his direction was a mirror reflecting themselves. The door behind him was pushed open, snapping him out of his trance and forcing him to turn to the intruder, smiling at Taita and Jason as they entered.

"How did interrogation go?" Taita asked, coming up beside his friend and peering into the room.

"Retrieved some DNA," Yami answered, retrieving a labelled bag from the table nearby, inside was a glass covered in lip prints. Handing it to Taita he continued. "He admitted to threatening Azucena, but only verbally, and that he did not threaten to kill her, just destroy her company. He is a horrible liar."

Jason chuckled, grabbing a nearby chair and pulling it over to his friends, sitting in front of the one-way mirror "What is his nervous trait?"

"His hands twitch, and his eyes shift to the left," Yami answered. "He did say one thing though that he did not react to in that way, I cannot tell if he was lying or not."

Grunting Jason took a sip of the coffee that he had brought in with him, "What was it?"

"That if he did kill Azucena, it was not just to get rid of her and her company, but to lure someone else out into the open," he murmured, eyes narrowing in thought. "He was unreadable there, so whether he was actually telling the truth or not, I do not know."

Heaving a sigh, Taita glanced through the glass at the figure sitting at the desk. Salatis held an uncanny resemblance to his brother, his deeply tanned flesh stark against the white dress shirt that he wore, jet-black hair neatly spiked, and a shapely face with high cheekbones accented his narrow eyes, deep and dark. Glancing at Yami he grunted, you could not tell that the two of them were related, there was nothing similar about them.

On the day six years ago that he found himself glued to the television screen, watching a heated court case with that beautiful spiky haired boy sitting uneasily at the witness stand, exposed flesh lathered in bruises and linen bandages, violet eyes wide and afraid as he listened to Lucien scream his heart out, protesting that he had never done anything, and trying to make him agree with him.

A woman had stood up, her perfect features flawless save for the bruises that could be seen, shouting at Lucien, forcing him to shut his trap and moving around the to boy behind the stand.

As she wrapped her arms around him it became apparent who the boy looked like in his family, he was a mirror image of his mother, the only difference was her hair lay flat, and she was female.

He held nothing in common with that monster, nothing. Unfortunately, that was one of the many reasons why Lucien did not believe that Yami was his. They were nothing alike, in personality or in appearance. Yami was his mother through and through.

Sighing, he reached out and gripped his friends shoulder, giving it a knowing and comforting squeeze. Yami averted his gaze to him, questioning at first before they blink in realization. Glancing down at his hands, he noticed that they were shaking furiously, snarling he shoved them into his pockets, he would not show that he was afraid of that man.

Taking a deep breath, Yami closed his eyes, attempting to soothe his nerves. "I'll be right back," he assured before vacating, only to find himself seconds later in that very room that he had been peering into. Lifting his gaze he stared at Salatis as he closed the door, case file in hand he moved to the table, silently sitting down and opening the file, eyes running over the contents.

Through the corner of his eyes he could see Salatis eyeing both him and the guard distastefully, his eyes hot with anger.

"So I hear that you have been having some rather, interesting, meetings with Mrs. Stiht, am I right?" Yami asked, never lifting his gaze from the photos in the file.

"We have, business meetings, nothing more," Salatis grunted, reaching into his pocket and retrieving a cigarette began to toy with it in his hands.

Yami crocked a brow, reading over the newly required information from the morgue. "This report says differently," he stated, lifting his gaze to peer at his uncle.

"Really now."

"Really," he answered, holding up the sheet of paper. "A semen sample was taken from Rosa during the secondary examination. They ran it through the system and matched the DNA to yours. Can you explain that to me?"

Scowling, Salatis placed his cigarette upon the table, leaning forward slightly he glared viciously at his nephew. "I think that it would be obvious then that she preferred me over her husband."

Chuckling, Yami leaned back in his chair, placing the sheet of paper unceremoniously upon the table, "It will also put you at the murder scene. The coroner confirmed that she had been having a rather rough coupling with someone not but fifteen minutes before her death."

"I did not kill her Yami," Salatis snapped, slamming his hand on the table. "It was not my job."

"So you knew about it?" Yami added, closing the file, signaling for the officer to move behind his uncle.

Heaving a breath Salatis sat back, frustration and obviously retaining his urge to strangle his nephew, he forced his body to relax, "Yes, I knew about it. All about it."

"Then elaborate for me," Yami encouraged, voice placid. "And I might be able to pull off a deal of some sort for you."

Chuckling deeply, Salatis gripped the edge of the table. "And you would do that for me? Please Yami, do you honestly believe that I am that stupid?"

"I did not suggest that," Yami protested, shifting uncomfortably. "I would not have a say in the matter Salatis, my superior officer would be the one creating the deal, I am simply following protocol."

Snarling, Salatis rose to his feet, "So now you want to help me, is that it?"

"I did not say that," snapped Yami, crossing his arms. "Because trust me, I'd prefer to see you behind bars, or on the table in the morgue. But I cannot make that decision. Gabe would be the one arranging the deal, but only if you spill everything that you know about it. I want to solve this case Salatis, nothing more."

Smirking, Salatis glanced back at the police officer, "Sure, I'll tell you," he laughed devilishly. "As soon as this bastard is out of the way."

Realization dawned on Yami. Springing to his feet, he snapped his pistol out of its halter, only for Salatis to knock the officer into unconsciousness, and to block his way to the door.

"Move Salatis," Yami snapped, holding the gun steadily in his hands. "I am not afraid to pull the trigger, move!"

Chuckling, Salatis launched forward, twisting the lock on the door as he went. Hearing the shot that was fired he shifted to the side, feeling the air of the bullet pass by his arm before he met his target. Tossing the gun aside he gripped Yami's forearms, successfully pinning him to the steel wall. His smirk widening as Yami struggled furiously against him, unfortunately for his victim, he was physically stronger than him, and at the moment, held the advantage.

Immediately pounding resounded on the door, Jason and Taita on the other side, desperately trying to break down the door as they called for security.

"Get off!" Yami screamed, horrific scenes of a man of similar appearance pinning him in this same style, tearing clothing off and biting harshly, filtering into his mind.

"I'll tell you about Azucena and Rosa Yami, they are used as decoys. The ones that killed them are after one of the CSI's in your team, they want revenge, and I know who it is," Salatis growled out, tightening his grip on the struggling form he had pinned.

Violet eyes snapped open, his body slackening as he stared at Salatis in shock, "Lucien, no he's not here, he left, he's not here," he screamed out in desperation, trying to convince himself more than Salatis.

"I'm afraid that he is Yami," Salatis chuckled. "He has Santos Aristo, the most powerful drug smuggler under his wing, running the company that is used as a disguise. He also runs the Propios del Diablo, he owns them Yami. That is what he has been doing since he left, gaining all the power he needs."

"No," Yami cried out, tears of fear coming to his eyes, barely hearing the pounding nearby. "No, no he's not coming back."

"Oh but he is Yami, and this time he will do anything to get you back," Salatis said, forcefully tossing Yami to the floor before following him, gripping that thin neck in his hands, squeezing tightly. "He wants you Yami; he's been craving to be able to teach you a lesson in these last few years."

Gasping, Yami squeezed his eyes shut, thrashing about underneath his uncle, trying to force him off and allow him to breath. His wish was partially granted; Salatis moved his hands from his neck, to repinning his arms on either side of his head. "He will get you this time Yami, you won't escape."

Just then the door was slammed open, shattering the glass within it before police officers poured into the room. Taking a hold of Salatis' arms they pulled him aside, cuffing him again and dragging him out of the room as Taita and Jason moved to their friends side, helping him gently into a sitting position and holding him tightly, soothing his now fragile nerves.

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Hours later, with a few hot cups of herbal tea in his system and a warmer coat protecting him against the bitter evening wind that blew through the city streets, Yami found himself standing before the Kaiba mansion. His now bruised arms and neck covered with a turtleneck and his thick jacket.

He needed something to get his mind off of the incident in the interrogation room. Something that would help his reassure himself that Lucien had not come back, that Salatis was toying with his head. Unfortunately for him, his fear was overriding reason and all he could think about was that bastard showing up and hurting him again, or possibly, his two siblings.

Heaving a sigh, he moved towards the door, he needed to do something to preoccupy himself, and he had decided that doing as he had promised would be the best thing to do before he went home. He had promised Seto that he would tell him everything that he found out, and he was intent on keeping that promise.

Knocking on the heavy, double doors, Yami stepped back and waited, shuddering against the chill of the wind as it ran over his face, turning his ears red from the bitterness of it.

Immediately the doors were pulled open, an elderly man stood there, sullen eyes and a gentle smile, "May I help you?"

Lifting his badge Yami smiled, "I would like to see Mr. Kaiba please, it has to do with the case."

The man nodded, stepping back he allowed Yami in and out of the cold, "I will retrieve some tea for the two of you, it is rather dreary outside right now, and you look frozen."

"Thank you."

"You may call me Victor, sir," the man said, before pointing towards the couch. "Wait there please; I will retrieve Mr. Kaiba for you."

"Thank you Victor," Yami murmured, quickly divesting his shoes at the front door before moving to the couch, making sure that his soiled rear was sitting upon his clean windbreaker.

Peering around again, he found himself lost in the splendor of the house, remembering once living in a place as lavish as this, remembering the few blissful memories he had in that house while he waited.

He became so lost in his daydreams that he did not notice the CEO sit down on the couch beside him, admiring his alluring form with soft cerulean eyes, until Seto spoke softly to him.

"I was not expecting to see you for quite a while longer," he stated, his voice tired and laced with melancholy.

Turning to him Yami smiled, "I promised that I would tell you if we found something didn't I?" he reminded.

"True enough," Seto chuckled, watching as Victor entered the kitchen behind them with a soft smile on his face. "Anything significant?"

"Quite actually," Yami stated, placing his hands in his lap. "We have arrested two suspects, both claim that they did not do anything, but their DNA has put them at the scene, and one admitted to knowing about it. Though, the reasoning is not what we believed it would be."

Leaning back against the plush pillows of the couch Seto crossed his arms, face becoming grave, "What was the reasoning then?"

Counting it out on his fingers Yami explained, "One, they wanted to get rid of the threat of Kaiba Corp. Two, they wanted to lure one of the CSIs on my team out into the open."

Seto snarled, "You mean my mother was used as a decoy to bring one of you out into the open?" he demanded heatedly.

Yami nodded uneasily, catching the ominous glint in the CEO's eyes that he knew so well, instantly edging away from him on the couch. "Unfortunately, it was people from Zamora Corp. That much we know."

"Do you know who they are after?" Seto snapped, clenching his fists.

Swallowing hard, Yami crossed his arms over his torso protectively, "We have an idea, they hinted towards someone, but we are not positive."

Growling, Seto turned towards him, eyes wild with fury, "Then what do you know?" he bellowed. "Other than the fact that my mother was used so that they could do the same damn thing to one of you."

"That Salatis, Ivan's right hand man as you know, was having some sort of affair with Rosa. And that someone was injured within your house at the crime scene that was not your mother; the blood did not match hers."

In an instant Yami found that he had been pushed back against the armrest of the couch, back arching over it as Seto loomed over him, one hand on either side of his head, trapping him there. Feeling his nerves begin to panic and his body starting to shiver he groaned, peering up into Seto's enflamed blue eyes, "Mr. Kaiba, calm down."

"Calm down," Seto chuckled wryly. "You remain calm when you find out that your mother's death was because of someone else."

Struggling with himself, Yami pressed himself further into the armrest, trying to distance his body as far from Seto's as possible. He knew that expression, it was of someone whose fury was in over drive, and had taken control of every ration thought in their mind. He had seen it many times before, and it frightened him.

"I have already gone through that Mr. Kaiba, my mother died because of someone else, because the man that killed her was going after another person. Now get off me, please, before this turns down the wrong path," Yami almost pleaded, shaky hands pushing against Seto's shoulders.

"It's you that those bastards at Zamora Corp. are after isn't it?" Seto fumed, fists clenching. "If Salatis, your uncle is involved then it has to be you. Why is it you?"

"We don't know if its me, yes it makes sense but we are still unsure," Yami said, his voice quivering as the shuddering in his body increased. His nerves swiftly overriding him, moments where he remembered being in utter darkness, all he could see was that ominously appealing face smirking down devilishly at him, mocking him as his body screamed with pain, and tears poured down his cheeks.

The memories quickly invaded his vision until that was all he saw, his own screams from those times ringing in his ears, that mocking laugh overwhelming and frightening him. Soon he could not feel his body, he did not know that he had just relapsed after the last year of being free of these attacks. He did not know that he was barely breathing, that his body was twisting and shuddering uncontrollably. He simply did not feel it; all he knew was those memories.

Seto sat back, regaining his composure and rational thought as he stared at the spectacle below him. Yami's eyes had rolled back, closing in near unconsciousness as his body twisted and arched, shivering as if he was cold, while sweat began to coat his skin.

Thinking fast he turned to the kitchen door, "Victor! Call the number I put on the fridge under CSI, get Taita over here now!" He bellowed urgently before redirecting his attention to Yami.

Remembering the little bit of first aid training that he had taken Seto lifted Yami off the couch and laid him on the hardwood. Retrieving the blanket from the couch he covered the shivering body with it, holding it down tightly as to make sure that Yami did not roll away and collide with the coffee table.

He knew what this was, an anxiety attack, he had only seen a few in his lifetime, but he could easily decipher the difference between one and a seizure. Grunting with the effort to hold the shaking body down, he bit his lip. What type of memories had he arisen in that young man's mind to make him react like this? This was the most severe attack he had ever seen.

The minutes that it took for Taita and Jason to arrive at the mansion with Joey in tow seemed to have been hours. The two CSI agents forced Seto away while Joey dropped to his friend's side. Seto watched helplessly as Joey pulled Yami to him, trying to hold his body still and whisper to him soothingly, but the shuddering continued to worsen, and Yami's breathing continued to decrease.

Lifting his head Joey yelled, "What the hell did you do?"

"I pinned him," Seto explained. "I let my anger get the best of me and I pinned him, I did not mean to."

Joey snarled, "I don't care whether you mean to or not," he snapped furiously. "Get your ass upstairs and turn your bathtub on cold, I need to snap him out of this before he stops breathing or his heart shuts down. Move your ass."

Nodding his head furiously, Seto dashed up the stairs, Jason and Taita following, helping him retrieve towels and to turn the bath tub on. Once Joey was up the stairs, Yami in his arms, he forced Jason and Taita to keep Seto out while he clambered into the tub, clothes and all, with Yami still in his arms.

The cold water hit Yami's burning skin, cooling it and stirring him. The shuddering rapidly slowed till it was nearly gone, Yami taking deep gulps of air, acting as if he had never breathed before in his life. His eyes snapped open; the shade had paled to a cold lavender, emotionless and near lifeless.

"Yami," Joey whispered, shifting in the tub so that he was now sitting up, resting his friends burning head against his shoulder. "Come on buddy, respond to me."

Lavender eyes shifted, the shade changing to their normal tone as they stared up at him, afraid and uncertain. "Joey? What?"

"Shh, it's alright," Joey assured, lifting himself out of the tub, wincing at the whimper that he heard emit from his friend. Retrieving a towel he turned back to him, helping his unsteady form out of the water before wrapping the towel around him. "It's alright, I'm here buddy, I'll never leave you I promise. He's gone."

Shakily, Yami clung to Joey like an insecure child, tightly gripping his now sopping shirt in his hands as he buried his face in his shoulder. "Dammit," he cursed weakly.

Heaving a sigh, Joey glanced at Seto. "Can you grab us some extra clothes? We need to dry our stuff now before we can go home," he asked politely, all the while rubbing Yami dry with the towel.

Nodding again, Seto vacated to his room, retrieving a t-shirt for Joey and a nightshirt and robe for Yami, he returned to the bathroom. Spotting Mokuba standing in his now open doorway, he kissed the boy goodnight and ushered him back to bed gently before handing the clothing over. Obediently following Taita and Jason downstairs into the living room to wait.

When finally Joey and Yami made their way down the stairs, Seto noticed the bruise that had formed on Yami's neck from his previous encounter that afternoon. He bit his lip, what did that man go through to put him in this state.

Yami was unsteady, gripping Joey tightly as the blonde supported him down the stairs and to the nearest couch. Sitting down, Joey hefted Yami onto his lap, not caring that the others were watching, the only thing on his mind right now was soothing Yami's still racing nerves. He had found out the hard was that physical touch was the only way to cure this.

Victor had taken the wet laundry and put it in the dryer before making some tea. Bringing it into the room, he broke the awkward silence that had fallen on the group by handing Yami a cup with a soft smile, "Drink this up sir, it will make you feel better."

"Thank you," Yami murmured, his voice small like that of a mouse.

"You're quite welcome sir," Victor assured before handing out the other glasses and leaving to return to the kitchen.

Yami sipped quietly at his tea while Taita and Jason proceeded to explain everything to Seto, about the case and what Salatis had done earlier. The CEO was silent as he listened, his eyes filed with guilt and his head bowed with shame as he did so, unwilling to look at the man that he had just unintentionally harmed.

"So, yes it is probably Yami that they are after, but it is possible that Santos will go after Gabe and myself as well because last year we had tried to take their organization apart before the CIA had taken over," Taita expounded.

"I see," Seto murmured, lifting his head for the first time in the last half hour to peer at Yami. "I am sorry, I should not reacted how I did."

Sighing deeply, Yami placed the cup upon the coffee table, blinking he leaned back against Joey, closing his eyes in somnolence. "It's alright, I understand your reasoning."

Victor came striding in then, the now dry clothes in his hand, still steaming from the dryer, "Here you are good sirs."

"Thank you Victor," Joey thanked, shifting Yami off of his lap so that he could retrieve the clothing. Taking a breath he glanced at Seto while reaching out a supportive hand to Yami. "Thank you Mr. Kaiba for allowing us to use your tub and dryer. We need to get home though, I kind of had to leave Yugi and Kalie alone with the neighbor to come over here."

"Anytime Joey, and it's Seto," the CEO said, smiling.

"Alright, Seto," Yami said, rising to his feet shakily. "I will be seeing you soon. Later Taita, Jason, I'll see you at work tomorrow, and thank you for coming."

Jason chuckled, moving to the door with Taita following, "What are friends for bud. Taita will go grab your SUV, I'll drive you home."

"Thank you."

"No problem."

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She had heard them enter the house, but only Joey's bedroom door closing downstairs. Sitting in bed with her eyes open, Kalie stared at the door to her room. What was Yami doing still up, and what had happened to make Joey leave the house in a rush after supper? These questions and more swam through her head, not allowing her to sleep. With a heavy sigh, she clambered off the bed and towards her door, she wanted answers and she wanted them now.

Stepping out into the hallway, she peered through the darkness towards the light that was creeping up the stairs from the second living room. Blinking, she allowed her eyes to adjust to the darkness before moving towards the stairs, dodging the couch as she went.

Clambering down step by step, she found that no lights were on, only candles lit up the open living, kitchen, and dining room area before her. She squinted, peering around in hopes of finding her brother, remembering him warning her the one night that she left all the candles on. He would never do something like that, even if he was in a horrible state.

Finally she spotted that familiar spiky mop sitting upon the floor by the island in the kitchen, his back was pressed against it and his front was facing the fridge. Seeing the glint of glass she moved forward, cautiously at first until she noticed the glass in her brother's hand, the clear liquid an instant give away.

"Yami," she gasped, dashing towards him and removing the glass from his hand, dropping the vile liquid down the sink before kneeling down beside him. He seemed to be coming out of a trance, his gaze bewildered and unfocused.

"Kalie," he questioned, reaching out and gripping her shoulder. "What are you doing up? Go back to bed."

Scowling she cupped his face with her hands, gazing hard into his eyes, "How many sips did you get down?" she demanded.

"One," he murmured, face flushing red with embarrassment.

"In how long."

"Two hours."

"Remember what you told me, every sip you take of that vodka the more you give into him," she reminded. "Yami, you stopped all this a year ago, why start up again now?"

Hanging his head Yami closed his eyes, he felt like a fool, a stupid fool. "Salatis is involved in the case that I am working on. He pinned me down Kalie, and tried to tell me that Lucien is coming back. Then, I went to the victim's house, and once I told him that his mother was used as bait to lure out some of the members on my team, he lost it. I had an anxiety attack, all of this made me relapse Kalie."

She sat back, staring at him for a moment before launching herself forward, holding him tightly to her. Feeling tears stain her gown from her brother's eyes she felt her own well up in her eyes. "You were doing so well, Gods I thought that things would become normal, that you would be alright."

"I thought so too," Yami murmured into her shoulder. "All that hard work had paid off, then Salatis had to come back into my life."

"Lets get to bed, you need to sleep, I can tell that you can barely keep your eyes open," she muttered, trying to stray away from this topic. Noticing this Yami nodded, rising to his feet with his sister before they made it towards the stairs, blowing out the candles as they went.

Stopping in front of his door Yami turn to Kalie, biting back his pride he asked quietly, "Stay with me, please?"

She stared at him for a moment, then nodded and followed him into his room and clambered into the bed, pressing her back against the wall and closing her eyes to allow him some privacy. Feeling the bed shift under Yami's weight, she opened her eyes, reaching out to him and sighing as he wrapped his arms around her, the slight shake that was still in his system lessening at the warmth and love that radiated from her.

"Good night Kalie," he murmured, closing his eyes. "Love you, sis."

She smiled, "I love you too Yami, good night."

A/N: again, sorry that this took so long to update, lol, I had soccer and school to worry about the past three weeks, hehehe. Hope you enjoyed, review please


	4. Chapter 4

**Author:** Yami Neferbre

**Title: Crimson Trust**  
**Disclaimer**: I do not own Yugioh, or CSI Miami, or Waste by Staind, or I want to save you by Something Corporate.

**Paring**: SetoxYami  
**Rating**: R (just to be safe with the content)

**Warning**: Violence, language, sexual content, mention of rape (it's not really noticeable yet)

**Spoilers**: None  
**Summary**: Yami has always been lied to, always been betrayed and hurt. Working as a special agent for the CSI crime lab in Miami he finds peace while raising his younger siblings. But an old enemy has returned, and a wonderful man just entered his life. Can he trust a stranger, or will he simply give up on life all together.

Story idea came from the song _Waste _by _Staind_  
**Status: **4/29

**A/N:** _Well last chappie was, interesting; it went as planned, lol. It was like thirteen pages, three less than chappie two, it was sixteen. Sorry Dragon, lol, I keep making you edit really long chappies. ; my bad. And just to warn you all right now, I have had an immense craving for humor, hehe. Anyway, hope you all enjoy this chappie too, and thanks for the encouragement in the reviews, u r all amazing (hugs u all!) byez now . _

_This is a chappie purely of character development, I want to get Yugi, Joey, Mai, Bakura, and Kalie all in there more. _

_And I dedicate this chappie to Dark Angel Lytha, who left such a lovely review on Mediaminer. thanks muchly, and to Dragon who continues to be an amazing beta. _

**FOUR**

_But these words  
They can't replace the life you the life you waste  
How could you paint this picture?  
Was life as bad as it should seem?_

"Sacha no!" Yugi cried.

Opening his eyes, Yami growled as the glare of the sun blinded him momentarily. Opening them again, he was barley able to yawn before Kalie was scrambling behind him with a deafening scream and their German Shepard to bound up onto the bed, barking enthusiastically as it went after its prey.

Spotting the said thing that was causing all the commotion, Yami yelped and jumped out of the bed, Kalie following behind as Sacha continued to bounce around the scrambling tarantula upon his bed.

Narrowing his eyes he glanced at the doorway. Spotting Yugi he growled, "Get that thing off of my bed before I kill it."

Dashing forward Yugi collected the scrambling spider into his hands, cradling the cursed thing to his torso before he ran out of the room, Sacha at his heels barking in protest as its 'toy' was carried away.

Taking a breath Yami glanced back at Kalie, the two of them stared at each other for a moment before they burst out laughing, laying upon the floor as to ensure that they did not fall upon anything. Joey, hearing the commotion strode to the door, glancing in he crocked a brow before Yugi came back in.

"Itzy got loose," Yugi explained. "And Sacha, being the dummy that he is, decided that Itzy was a toy."

Regaining his composure, Yami rose to his feet, extending a helping hand to Kalie as he went, heaving her to her feet before turning to his younger brother - his expression becoming stern. "What did I say about that…thing?"

"To lock the cage," Yugi murmured, cheeks going red in embarrassment.

"Was it?" Yami questioned, feeling the corners of his mouth twitch as he tried to hold back a smile. Yugi looked absolutely adorable right now, and the blush was threatening to make him break down and laugh again, or force his brother to smile again.

"No," Yugi muttered, shuffling his feet on the carpet.

"Is it going to happen again?" Yami inquired, crossing his arms. Containing his mirth was becoming harder as Joey began to make ridiculous faces at Kalie behind his little brother.

"No," violet eyes lifting, staring innocently at his brother. That's all it took. Yami burst back into laughter, dropping down onto his bed amongst the scattered pillows. Taking advantage of this, Kalie and Yugi dashed to the bed, viciously tickling their older brother to tears.

Through heavy fits of laughter Yami managed to drop off of the bed, scrambling instantly to his feet and moving behind Joey, putting the poor blond between Yami and his two siblings. Throwing his hands in the air, he backed away from the two - who were pretending to glare at him viciously - pressing Yami back against the wall behind him.

"Hey, don't get me in the middle of this."

Tossing a pillow at Joey, Kalie grunted playfully before stalking down the hall to her room, sticking out her tongue before closing the door, intent on changing. Yugi merely giggled before bounding out into the upstairs living room, jumping onto the couch and gluing his attention to the Saturday morning cartoons that were playing boisterously from the television.

Chuckling, Yami moved out from behind Joey. Stepping back into his room, he glanced out at his friend. Smiling brightly, he leaned against the doorframe, eyes closing in bliss. "What time is it?"

"Time for you to get to work," Joey answered, Yami opened one eye peering at him questioningly. Flashing his wristwatch up, he allowed Yami to grip his wrist and peer at the contraption and busted out laughing at the quizzical expression that passed over his friend's features.

"What the hell am I doing up at seven thirty on a Saturday morning? I don't need to be at work for another, oh, four and a half hours," Yami grunted, throwing his hands dramatically in the air. "Alright, I guess I am making breakfast then."

"YES!" screamed Yugi triumphantly from the couch. "I win Joey."

Glancing around his doorframe at Yugi, Yami scowled before averting his attention to Joey, eyes narrowed, "You both planned this didn't you?"

Shrugging, Joey began to edge down the hallway, scratching his neck nervously. "It was more of a bet, I told him that he would not be able to wake you up without touching you himself."

Snarling, Yami gripped the doorframe. "You are one dead bastard," he screamed, bounding after his friend. With a startled cry, Joey crashed down the stairs, sliding across the hardwood floor towards the living room on the main floor.

Stumbling, he turned to see Yami not even a foot from him, knowing what was coming he grabbed a pillow and placed it behind his head just in time for impact. Yami tackled him, nailing him at his waist and shoving him playfully to the carpet. Grabbing one of the remaining pillows from the couch, Yami began to hammer Joey with it, all the while both of them laughing enthusiastically, not knowing that they were being watched by a pair of amused violet eyes.

"Hey, save some for me Yami," teased a sooth feminine voice from the island.

Stopping in his games, Yami glanced at the island, smiling brightly as he spotted one of his childhood friends sitting upon one of the bar stools. She sat straight, posture impeccable, and making her hold the appearance of a queen with perfect grace. Lightly tanned flesh and thick golden curls accented high cheekbones.

"Hello Mai," he chuckled, rising to his feet, tossing the pillow at Joey as he did so. "I wasn't expecting to see you here till tonight."

She shrugged, adjusting her strapless top, not caring that her friend saw the motion. "I decided that I was going to come bother you before you had to go to work. Besides, Joey and I have to stop at the office later today to finish off some of the effects on that one scene. So, I was going to come get some breakfast off of you."

Moving into the kitchen, not caring that he was only in a pair of boxers and a long t-shirt, Yami shoved the fridge door open. "So you were part of the bet I take it."

Mai laughed brightly, glancing at Joey as her fiancé wrapped an arm around her waist as he stood beside her, "Of course."

Shaking his head Yami pulled back, examining the contents of the fridge with indecision, "What the hell am I going to make?"

"Dunno," Joey shrugged, giving out a yawn. "French toast?"

Not knowing what else to do, Yami retrieved the milk and eggs. Dumping them on the counter he moved to find the cinnamon, sugar, and bread from the pantry. Grabbing a bowl to use to mix the contents, he concentrated on his task as Mai went and turned on some music, the Latin vibes soon blaring through the house.

Finishing with the food, Yami placed the large mound of French toast on a plate and handed it to Joey and then turned back to retrieve the fruit salad that he had quickly made, along with the syrup, butter, and icing sugar.

Mai set the table quickly, placing the utensils, cups, and plates in the designated sections before retrieving Yugi and Kalie.

Gathering around the table, the group immediately dished out their food, laughing as they went when Joey made abnormal faces at Mai, forcing her to put the plate of French toast down before she dropped it. Giving him a swift but gentle hit over the head, Yami sat down at the table beside his brother. "Sit down before you make her lose her appetite you dolt," he teased.

Pouting dramatically, Joey sat down beside his fiancé, wrapping an arm around her waist, not even paying attention to the food that she was dishing out onto his plate until he found one of the slices of toast squished against his mouth. Giving out a muffled cry, he sat back, cocking a brow at Mai before laughing loudly, taking the slice away from his mouth and placing it on his plate.

Shaking his head, Yami reached out to grab the butter, glancing briefly over at his brother. "How is Spanish class?"

Yugi smiled, "It's a blast. Mrs. Ángeles has taught us a lot, to the point were there is very little English spoken in class. After all, most of us have been taking it since grade one."

Smiling, Yami spread the butter over his two slices before placing the butter back in the center of the table. Retracting his arm, he gasped in surprise as gentle hands gripped the said appendage, holding it along the edges of the bruises that had formed from his encounters the day before. Glancing sideways, he peered at Yugi, his eyes blank as violet eyes scanned them.

In an instant those same hands moved up to pull the collar of his shirt down. Spotting the darkened skin, he narrowed his eyes, peering up at his elder brother with concern.

"Yami, cuáles son esas contusions?" (what are those bruises)

Yami froze, his throat going dry as he glanced around the table at the others, knowing that all of them heard and understood the question. Cursing he bit his lip, rising to his feet, signaling for Yugi to follow. "Venido." (come)

Reluctantly Yugi followed, rising to his feet and tagging along behind his brother towards the bathroom nearby. Stepping in, he heard his brother closing the door. Turning to him, he crossed his arms. "Yami, qué sucedió?" (Yami, what happened?)

Heaving a sigh, Yami sat down upon the edge of the bathtub, his eyes locked upon the tile floor, his expression blank and his eyes clouded. How was he going to word this without frightening the young boy? Blinking, he covered his face with his hands. "Salatis…. he came back."

Yugi took a step backwards, his back hitting the door as he did so. "I thought he left with Lucien," he murmured, fear laced in his voice and expression.

Grunting, Yami uncovered his face, still refusing to look directly at his brother. "So did I, until I found out the hard way that he is a suspect in the investigation that I am doing at the moment."

"What did he do to you?" Yugi questioned, moving forward and kneeling before his brother, tiny hands covering Yami's knees. "He put those marks there didn't he?"

Giving a curt nod Yami lifted his gaze to meet with Yugi's, reaching out he cupped the boy's face with his hands, tenderly caressing the soft skin there. "He attacked me in the interrogation room. Afterwards, I went to the home of the victim, Seto Kaiba. I told him the reasoning for his mother's death, at least the reason that we have gathered from the two suspects, and he lost it.

"He as well pinned me, not roughly but enough I suppose to alarm me. I relapsed Yugi, I had an anxiety attack last night because of the two combined incidences. Gods I feel like a fool," he murmured, tearing his gaze and hands away from his brother, now too ashamed to look at him.

Sitting back, Yugi stared at his brother in disbelief. One entire year, one year of nothing but heaven, and then this. Biting the corner of his lip, he felt tears well in his eyes. He had believed that everything was alright, that nothing more was going to happen. Apparently, he had been wrong, they all had been wrong.

Heaving in a shaky breath, he caught the glimmer of tears in Yami's eyes. Gritting his teeth, he moved forwards cupping his brothers face in the same fashion that Yami had done to him moments ago. "It'll be alright Yami," he assured, dark violet peering at him with uncertainty. "He won't come back."

"I'm not so sure," Yami muttered. "Why else would Salatis come back?"

Shrugging, Yugi surged forward and wrapped his arms around Yami's neck, holding him tightly, almost protectively. "I don't know. And honestly Yami, I don't want to know. Just try not to think about it. Alright? Please bro?"

Inhaling sharply, Yami gripped his brother tighter, suppressing the tears that threatened to flow down his cheeks. "I'm trying, I swear I am," he gasped out, squeezing his eyes shut and cursing as a stray cold tear cascaded down his cheek. "But right now, after what happened yesterday, it's becoming damn hard to suppress the memories."

Feeling the dampness of the tear meet his shoulder, Yugi clenched his fists. He hated seeing Yami like this, broken and crying. It had been so long since he had seen Yami like this that he had almost forgotten it - forgotten what it was like to see the normally stoic and courageous young man break down and sob like an insecure child, curling into himself and locking everything in.

"I love you Yami," he murmured, rubbing gentle circles on his brother's back. "We'll get through this, your strong, we can do this." He felt Yami nod against his shoulder, though his body began to shake in a convulsive rhythm.

Heaving a sigh. he called out. "Joey, come in here please. I can't do this."

Immediately, hurried footsteps reached his ears. Glancing back over his shoulder, Yugi watched as the door was pushed open and Joey appeared. The blonde held back an expression of worry and moved forward, encouraging Yugi to leave while he took Yami in his arms, holding him and whispering gently to him, trying almost desperately too shove the memories away from his friends head.

He could feel Yami shaking again, tears coursing down in rivers from those beautiful violet eyes and small whimpers beginning to escape Yami's lips. Taking in a deep breath, Joey shifted and gently laid his friend upon the ground, knowing he had come in too late to stop it from transpiring.

The shaking and twitching began to increase as he lay there against the cool tile, holding Yami tightly against him, preventing him from flailing about. He spotted Mai come to the door, her concerned expression fading to one of melancholy as she took on the scene, immediately recognizing it. She move to him instantly, laying upon the other side of Yami, gripping him tightly and helping to hold him still as he fell into another attack.

It was less severe than the one the night before. It was more controlled and both could tell that Yami was still coherent by the whimpers and gasps that emitted from his lips, and his hands that frantically gripped Joey's shoulders.

It took several minutes before the shaking ceased and for Yami's nerves to return to normal. Panting heavily in somnolence, chest heaving from the effort to breathe, Yami kept his eyes closed, shame forcing him to avoid eye contact with his two friends. Why now, why after all this time did this have to start up again - his mind screamed at him - why now?

Joey could sense this as he forced himself into a sitting position, pulling Yami up with him, gripping the other tightly. Glancing at Mai, he signaled with a nod of his head towards the door, silently asking her to leave and eat before the meal went cold.

Loosening his grip, Joey peered down at Yami's face, deep golden eyes overflowing with concern. "What else happened yesterday Yami? The thing with Seto alone could not have caused this. What happened?"

Inhaling sharply, Yami buried his head in Joey's shoulder, further shielding his face. "Salatis, he's back, and he's a suspect in the case," he chocked out, tears continuing to cascade down his face, dampening his t-shirt along the collar. "He tried to tell me that Lucien was back and he attacked me in the interrogation room. He's the one who caused the bruises, not Seto."

Fists clenching and jaw locking, Joey squeezed his eyes shut, protectiveness flooding through him suddenly like it used to years ago when Lucien had still been around. Tightening his hold on Yami, he rocked his friend back and forth, soothing him all the while growling out, "He won't touch you again Yami, not without going through Bakura and I first. Forget it; I'll beat his ass to Hong Kong."

"No Joey!" Yami exclaimed, tightening his hold on Joey's shirt. "He'll kill you and you know it. You have gotten between him and I far too much."

Snarling, Joey pulled back, forcing Yami to look at him with a gentle hand under his chin. "I won't let you go through that again. He's messed up your life enough. And we both know if he gets a hold of you one more time you may not recover. I don't want that, neither does Bakura, or Mai, Yugi, Kalie, or all our other friends."

Yami whimpered, his hands moving up to cover Joey's as they held his chin gently, his vision began to blur as the torrent of tears in his eyes increased. "He's not coming back," he muttered, his voice desperate. "He's not."

Biting his lip, Joey pulled Yami back against him, cradling his friend's head against his torso, holding him protectively. "He's not coming back Yami, I'm sorry that I snapped," he soothed, rubbing Yami's back softly. The sobbing began to subside, being replaced with that familiar voice that he had heard for so many years, relaxing as he let Yami sooth himself.

_standing on the edge of morning  
scent of sex and new found glory  
playing as she's pulling back her hair  
she drives away  
she's feeling worthless  
used again but nothing's different  
she'd stay the night  
but knows he doesn't care _

home by three  
deafening quiet  
the porch light's off  
yes they forgot it  
she'd cry herself to sleep  
but she don't dare  
and she wants to be a model  
she wants to hear she's beautiful  
she's beautiful

I want to save you  
I want to save you  
I need you  
save me too  
I want to save you

dressed by dawn and out the door  
no light  
she memorized the floor  
so she could leave without being detected  
she works till three  
it's uniform  
she dreams that he'll come by the store  
she prays for days  
when boys mean she's protected  
and she wants someone to see her  
she needs to hear she's beautiful  
she's beautiful

I want to save you  
I want to save you  
I need you  
save me too  
I want to save you

and she won't sleep  
she won't sleep  
and she won't sleep  
at all

I want to save you  
I want to save you  
I need you  
save me too  
I want to save you

1231231231231231232132132321321323232312

Giving Yugi and Kalie a gentle embrace, he said his good-byes and followed Taita to his SUV parked on the street, the brilliant sunlight gleaming brightly off of its silver exterior. Tossing his bag into the back seat, Yami felt Taita grip his shoulder, turning he face his friend, "What is it?"

"Are you going to be alright buddy?" Taita questioned, peering into his eyes with concern and affection. "You scared us last night."

Heaving a sigh, Yami gripped the door handle to the passenger side, violet eyes drifting to the ground. "I scared myself," he answered honestly. "But yes, I'll be alright. Yesterday, I guess my nerves were on overdrive."

Beaming brightly at him, Taita patted his shoulder. "Well hopefully today you won't have to deal with that asshole. Jason already threatened to shove a stick where the sun don't shine. I don't want to know what he would do if he touched you again."

Yami chuckled, "Well hopefully next time I don't freeze so that I can kick his ass before any of you even have a chance."

Laughing brightly, Taita glanced at the door. Spotting Yami's hand there he crocked a brow, "I'm driving?"

Nodding, Yami opened the door, "I'm still pretty shaky, putting me behind the wheel at the moment until I get my pills in me might be a bad plan," he expounded before clambering, shutting the door as he went.

Moving to the drivers side, Taita closed the door and turned on the ignition. "This is just strange, I'm driving your vehicle with you in it with me," he said shaking his head as the music began to blare, drowning him out in an instant, forcing him to turn the volume down, laughing as he caught Yami with his hands over his ears. "Oh come on, it wasn't that bad, you've had it louder."

Yami narrowed his eyes, cautiously taking his hands away. "Yeah, but when my head feels as if it's gunna split in half then I try and avoid blowing my eardrums out," he stated, instantly gripping the seat belt as Taita stepped on the gas. Swallowing hard he gripped the armrest, forgetting that Taita was a rather reckless driver. 'Alright' he said to himself, 'maybe I should have drove'.

123123123123123123123123123123123

"Protection detail," said Taita questioningly, leaning against the mahogany desk, deep cerulean eyes peering at Gabe quizzically. "Why us, we should be working on the case."

Yami nodded with agreement, crossing his arms as he sat stiffly in one of the chairs in the office, "Are they trying to make us give this over to Kent's team?"

Shrugging, Gabe rose to his feet, taking the open case file with him as he moved towards the door. "Possibly, I don't know, but they do not believe that just having police offices guarding those two will being enough, they want our best watching them on top of that. So you were chosen because both of you passed the course with top marks. It's not my choice, trust me if I had been allowed to chose I would have picked the two ex S.W.A.T. members to watch them.

"But," he continued, signaling for the two to follow him, opened the door and moved out into the hallway, locking it once the two CSI's had followed him. "I can't make these decisions, my boss does. I am just a head supervisor remember, I boss you around, he bosses me around. Now Yami you are on nightshift and Taita has days."

Moving down the hallway, Yami shoved his hands into his pockets, staring up at Gabe with a placid expression. "Are we allowed to work on the case at all?"

Nodding his head, Gabe reached for the door leading into the morgue, "Yes you are, though you are not allowed to let any relationships that you might develop with the two interfere. Mr. Kaiba is not out of the clear yet, he could be running the show."

Exchanging glances Taita and Yami shook their heads in agreement. They both knew without a shadow of a doubt that Seto was not involved. At the moment they had no proof of that, but their guts were telling them that along with their instincts. And sometimes, instincts were better then science.

Gabe turned to the two of them, his face grave. "I want both of you to watch yourselves. We do not know exactly who it is that they are going after, but we do know that it is one of the three of us. Watch your own backs, and be careful."

"We will Gabe," said Taita teasingly, patting his friends shoulder playfully. "You are worse then my mother."

Scowling, Gabe shoved the door open, pointing a finger at the young CSI. "Don't push it bucko. Now, go start your shift and get out of my hair you rotten whipper snapper," he chuckled; shaking his head at Taita briefly stuck his tongue out at him before moving to the exit.

Once Taita had left, Gabe turned to Yami, smiling warmly at him before ushering him into the morgue. Yami turned to him, watching as the door was closed before he lifted questioning violet eyes to his boss. Gabe moved over to him, gently urging him into a chair before kneeling in front of him. Catching on Yami averted his gaze; he did not want to talk about this right now.

"Are you alright? I heard about what happened yesterday," Gabe questioned.

Nodding, Yami crossed his arms. "Yes, I'm fine," he said curtly.

Heaving a sigh, Gabe rested his arms on his knees, peering up into those cold violet eyes that he had grown to adore over the last six years. He grunted, shaking his head, "I should have taken Salatis, you shouldn't have been in the same room as him."

He redirected his attention to the former cop that had saved him from Lucien's wrath years ago. "I'm not blaming you Gabe," he assured, his voice soft. "Don't put the blame on your shoulders, it was nothing, he just bruised me, nothing more."

"And he tried to get into your head," Gabe snapped, retrieving a chair and moving to sit upon it, the floor becoming rapidly uncomfortable. "I had someone tail him home. There was someone else in that house with him and they have pictures of the man Yami." With that he reached into his pocket, fishing the pictures out and revealing them to the young man.

Reaching out Yami tentatively took the stack of photos from Gabe, peering down at them he inhaled sharply. He recognized that body shape, the face, everything. Shaking furiously he dropped the photos, staring at where they had been in utter shock and disbelief, his mind screaming in a mantra 'HE'S NOT COMING BACK!'

Taking hold of Yami's hands, Gabe squeezed them comfortingly, "They tailed him as well and watched him board a plane. Hopefully he is going away for good and that Salatis was just messing with your head. But if not, be careful Yami, I don't want him getting a hold of you again. You don't deserve what he put you through."

Nodding furiously Yami rose to his feet, brushing past Gabe he dashed to the door, flinging it open and barreling across the hall to his office, slamming the door shut and locking it as he went.

Gabe watched this sadly, tears coming to his eyes. "God protect him."

123123123123123123123123123123123123

Yami spent a good portion of that afternoon trapped within his office pouring over the case file, trying to think of anything that they might of missed or did not think of. Coming up empty, he went to the forensics lab retrieving the comparison tests trying to match Ivan to any of the samples taken from the Kaiba manor. He came up empty.

The finger prints from Kaiba Corp came in as well, taking the short list of about ten names he check their history and where they worked. Five of the ten names were of people that worked for Zamora Corp.

Ivan Mittowski  
Salatis Hanata  
Hermanio Quiero

Juan el Cicaque

Kent Lethbridge

All of them held some sort of record, two had once belonged to Propios del Diablo, and the last one was Kent. His question though was, why was Salatis and Kent at Kaiba Corporation, in Azucena's office to be exact?

Taking this information, he went and found Elijah and Jason in the lounge pouring over a football game, screaming as he came in. He placed the case file in front of them, gaining their attention and explaining everything that he had deciphered. They decided to one, pay Kent a visit, and two, go check the Stiht residence.

Checking his watch Yami scowled, "I have to go, it's Bakura's birthday and we are going out for supper, I'll see you guys later."

"Hey," Jason called, waving at him. "Have fun on protection duty."

Scowling, Yami playfully shook a fist at him before vacating the building. Pulling out his keys from his pocket he opened the door to the SUV and moved in, closing the door and turning the vehicle on. Cringing at the volume of the music, he turned it down, sighing deeply before he pulled out of the parking lot, instantly mingling with the light afternoon traffic in downtown Miami.

He needed to pick up Mai, Bakura, and Joey, his three high school friends, from the studio before he would be able to go home and freshen up. Rolling down the window, he allowed the fresh cool air to swirl through the vehicle. Feeling his headache lessening, he blared the music, laughing to himself at a humorous line in the song.

The fresh smell of the ocean soon invaded his senses as he turned onto Biscayne Boulevard, rapidly driving past Bicentennial Park, the clear blue of the ocean just beyond it to his left. He peered at it absentmindedly as he drove along the long street, soon finding that the park had disappeared and was replaced with long stretches of white sandy beach. It was filled with people laughing and playing in the water.

He needed to do that this weekend, take Yugi and Kalie to the beach. He needed something to distract them.

Turning by the Bay Harbor Islands, he droved down the street, spotting a building consisting mostly of glass and concrete he switched in his signal light and moved into the parking lot. Finding a slot instantly he turned it, switched off the ignition and clambered out, closing the door as he went.

Moving to the front door of the vast building, he pulled the front doors open and moved in, giving a pleasant hello to the young woman at the front desk before he made his way up a set of stairs towards the second floor. He knew his way around this place better than his own work sometimes. Saying curt hellos to various people he smiled brightly, shaking his head as he knocked upon a nearby door and entered.

"Joey is taking forever," growled a young man sitting behind the desk peering up at Mai with impatience, his long snowy white hair pulled back tightly into a ponytail.

"Doesn't he always take forever, Bakura?" Yami chuckled, gaining their attention.

Dark chocolate eyes locked with his own, the owner smiling brightly and bounding from his chair wrapped an arm around his neck and began to mercilessly ruffle his hair. "Took you long enough," Bakura teased.

"Hey, I had to work too birthday boy," Yami protested, wriggling away from his friend and peering at him with a crocked brow.

Mai shook her head. "I'll go get Joey," she laughed, before vacating the room, closing the door behind her.

Sticking his tongue at her back, Bakura moved to start gathering his things, removing his suit jacket and tie as he did so. Shoving the said things into a duffle bag, he glanced up at Yami, scanning his form over before continuing. "Joey told me what happened," he stated.

Glancing up, at him Yami leaned against the door, "And?"

Moving to the door, duffle bag in hand, Bakura peered at his friend "And," Bakura said sternly "I'm staying with you, at the house at least. Joey got me to move in for a while."

"What?" Yami snapped, moving away from the door. "I can take care of myself Bakura, you know that."

"Not against him you can't," Bakura hissed, gripping Yami's shoulder with his free hand. "You know it, you'd freeze up if he showed his barbaric face again. I'm staying Yami, plain and simple."

Shaking his head, Yami gripped the door handle, pulling it open. "I think all of you are over reacting," he snapped. "It was just a one time thing Bakura, I am not going into a room alone with Salatis again. Besides, we don't even know if Lucien has come back."

"You do," Bakura stated. Yami narrowed his eyes, shaking his head Bakura pointed at the said violet orbs. "Your eyes give it away. You know where he is don't you?"

Cringing, Yami averted his head so that he was facing Bakura. "I have an idea," he stated.

"Where is he then?" Bakura pressed as they moved down the stairs.

"On a plane and that's all I know," Yami said, rubbing his neck nervously. "Where to, I have no idea."

"And you have no idea if he is coming back."

"No."

Bakura grunted, pushing the front doors open. "Exactly why I'm staying with you."

Rolling his eyes, Yami strode to his vehicle, unlocking it and allowing Bakura in, "Whatever," he snapped. "Happy Birthday by the way."

Heaving a sigh, Bakura reached across and wrapped an arm around his friend's shoulders, "Thanks buddy, and sorry about all but, we just want to keep you safe."

"I know," Yami murmured, smiling warmly at his friend. "Sorry I snapped."

Bakura shrugged, "Hey I snapped too, no worries."

Immediately the back two doors opened as Joey and Mai moved into the back seats, strapping their seat belts on as they went. Checking that everyone was buckled in, Yami turned on the vehicle and drove out of the parking lot, heading to the school to pick up Yugi and Kalie.

Stopping in front of the immense school, Yami clambered out, scanning the grounds as he closed the door. Spotting both of his siblings Yami moved across the lush green grass towards the two. Reaching Yugi first he ruffle the boy's hair, gaining his attention and causing his circle of friends to laugh and greet him enthusiastically as Yugi re-arranged his hair.

Instructing Yugi to head to the car, Yami moved to Kalie, a few of her friends noticed him right away, waving at him and smiling. Waving back, Yami glanced at his sister, crocking a brow and gaining a roar of laughter from those that noticed him. Kalie was being held from behind by a tall, brawny young man with baggy jeans that hung down to nearly his knees, and a bandana covering his short honey colored hair.

Seeing the guy's pants, Yami made a signal to those that were looking silently asking permission for what he wanted to do. They nodded at him, laughing as the watched him go up behind the guy, grab a loophole on his pants, and yank them down.

Immediately both the guy and Kalie turned to him, Kalie with a shocked expression upon her face, mouth agape, while the guy cursed loudly scrambling to pull his pants back up. Crocking a brow at the vulgarity from the guy, Yami glanced at Kalie, "He better not be that Ulrick kid you were telling me about."

"Its Sparky asshole," snapped the guy, tightening his pants.

Crocking a brow, Yami glanced back at Kalie, "He definitely better not be him."

Scowling, Kalie crossed her arms. "What are you doing here?" she asked sharply, her normal personality being replaced with another. Obviously she was trying to impress someone.

Yami noticed this, impatiently tapping his watch. "I take it that you forgot what day is," he grunted. "Dinner, remember."

"No," she chided. "I don't remember, and honestly I don't care."

Narrowing his eyes, Yami glanced back at Sparky as he tried to adjust his pants. "You better not be acting like this because of him," he snapped.

"No," she growled, her eyes shifting nervously as her friends behind her began to speak quickly in undertones, her name being mentioned.

He snarled, "Bullshit Kalie, drop this façade and get to the vehicle." She bit her lip, visibly wincing at the tone in her brother's voice. Turning, she grabbed her backpack and moved towards the vehicle, her head bowed.

Rounding on 'Sparky' Yami crossed his arms, violet eyes darkening, ignoring the whispering voices of Kalie's friends he snapped. "You better damn well hope that I don't catch you holding my sister with an illegal fire arm again."

Sparky grunted, moving so that he was peering down at Yami, trying to use his height to intimated the smaller male. "What illegal fire arm asshole? I ain't got nothing on me," he challenged.

In an instant, Yami's hand snapped out, reaching down into one of the baggy pockets on the thug's pants and wrenching out the weapon. Silver reflected in the sunlight and flashing brilliant light into the eyes of the onlookers. Yami peered at it for a moment before glancing up at Sparky. "No weapon huh?" he snapped. "I'll let this one slide, but next time, you'll be taking a ride with me back to the station."

"Fuck that," scoffed Sparky, shoving Yami's shoulders, surprised when the young, smaller male barely moved an inch. "I can do what ever the fuck I want, and you can't do shit about it, got that?"

Again Yami had him stunned, spinning him around, tripping him forcefully and tossing him to the ground, kneeling upon his back the instant that he hit the ground, CSI badge flashing in the thugs face. "Actually, puppy, I can do something about it. Now go back to your house, puppy, and allow your master to lay a whooping on your fat ass before I do it myself," Yami hissed rising to his feet.

Not waiting to watch Sparky regain his composure, Yami strode away, waving a brief good-bye to Kalie's friends before he clambered into the SUV.

Closing the door, Yami quickly buckled his seat belt before glancing back at Kalie, turning his body so that he could face her. She seemed to know that it was coming, ice blue eyes averting to her knees. He sighed, softening his gaze and ignoring the others, briefly reached back to her, gripping one of her hands.

"Is he worth it?" Yami questioned, squeezing her hand forcing her to look at him. "Is he worth changing for?"

Shrugging, Kalie lowered her eyes again. "I don't know," she muttered, avoiding him as best as she could, hiding her shame.

He smiled softly, caressing the back of her hand. "Yes you do Kalie. What have I taught you?" he asked, voice gentle.

"To never change for anyone, and to be yourself," she stated, ice blue eyes lifting to his.

"But he is different Yami, I don't think that I had a choice really, if I said no he might have hurt me, or even Yugi."

Hearing the panic in her tone, and the frightened gleam in her eyes, he shifted, removing his seatbelt so that he could reach back and cup her face with his hand. "What did he say to you?" he demanded.

"Well," she started. "For one, when he asked me, he had me kinda cornered by his friends. Then he told me if I left him that he would get his boss to hurt Yugi or I."

Snarling, Yami sat back, eyes darkening in fury. "He better not damn well touch either of you. If he says one more thing like that to you Kalie, come tell me immediately. I won't let anyone touch you like that, you don't deserve it."

Feeling a restraining hand grip his shoulder, Yami glanced sideways at Bakura, giving him a curt nod of thanks before turning back to his two siblings. "That goes with you too Yugi, if he even comes near you, come tell me."

Nodding, Yugi gripped his backpack to his torso, innocent eyes blinking back at him. "I will," he assured.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Yami shifted, sitting properly in his seat. Closing his eyes, he absentmindedly ran his fingers through his hair, parting his golden bangs and forcing the damp strands away from his flesh. Bakura's hand was still upon his shoulder, caressing it gently with his thumb in a comforting and knowing matter. The white haired male glanced back at Joey and Mai, each nodding in silent agreement; they would be watching their friend closely for the next few days.

Regaining his composure, Yami flared the ignition. Glancing briefly out the window towards Sparky he scowled. Why did he have the feeling that Sparky was not after his siblings? Shaking his head, he pulled out of the parking lot, pushing the thought out of his mind as he drove towards their home in Miami Shores.

Adjusting the steering wheel, he pulled up the driveway of a large comfortable Victorian styled home, with sleek white siding and glistening black trim and shingles. It was an immense home, yes, but not as large as the Manor that they had grown up in not more than a few blocks away. Balconies jutted out from many of the windows on the second floor, while the patio on the front was shaded with tall palm and aspen trees.

He stared at the home for a moment before clambering out, following his friends inside and moving towards his bedroom. For some reason every time he peered at this house he felt at peace and he believed that it was because he knew that 'He' would not be welcoming him home.

Quickly showering and divesting his work attire for that of a pair of sleek black leather pants and a silk button up dress shirt, he moved downstairs, coughing as Joey suddenly sprayed cologne in his directing. Grunting, he gave his friend a playful tap over the head and a glare before he retrieved his leather coat from the closet. Confirming that everyone was ready, he led the way back to the SUV, waiting for everyone to buckle up before he drove off to the restaurant, watching the clock as he did so.

He had just over an hour before he had to start his first shift of protection detail at the Kaiba Manor. And at the moment, he was not sure whether he felt excited or frightened. The two emotions could sometimes be so similar that he could not decipher the difference between them when it came to himself. Pushing that thought out of his mind, he concentrated on driving, all the while laughing as Kalie and Yugi broke out in the birthday song.

A/N: If you all haven't noticed...I HAVE BECOME ADDICTED TO THIS FIC! lol, its my new fav, and I'm kinda stuck on the other ones. If there is any one of you that is reading A Past to Be Forgotten, I am planning it out so that is why it is taking me so long to get a chappie up. And Innocent Dark and Living Dead, just stuck on how to write what I want to happen, and I've been busy. So I apologize bows low please forgive me for my lateness.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author:** Yami Neferbre

**Title: Crimson Trust**  
**Disclaimer**: I do not own Yugioh, or CSI Miami, or Waste by Staind

**Paring**: SetoxYami  
**Rating**: R (just to be safe with the content)

**Warning**: Violence, language, sexual content, **RAPE SCENE**

**Spoilers**: None  
**Summary**: Yami has always been lied to, always been betrayed and hurt. Working as a special agent for the CSI crime lab in Miami he finds peace while raising his younger siblings. But an old enemy has returned, and a wonderful man just entered his life. Can he trust a stranger, or will he simply give up on life all together.

Story idea came from the song _Waste _by _Staind_  
**Status: **5/29 (this is not definite, there is one chapter that I believe might become lengthy, or I might want to have more in it and it may become two chapters, I don't know yet, but this is a general number)

**A/N:** _Well I have figured out the average number of pages per chappie now….about sixteen, lol. That's pretty long, considering before I had Dragon as a beta I used size nine font and only had to write four to six pages lol.  
_

_Dark Angel Lytha: answering your question, no I do not know that much Spanish, I know some basics, and I have to friends that speak it, so I make them do the translations for me, so it might be a lil off, but I dun know. _

_**(WAVES HANDS) Warning Rape Scene in this Chapter, if do not like, don't read (STOPS WAVING) **_

_**FIVE**_

_That there were no more options for you  
I can't explain how I feel  
I've been there many times before  
I've tasted the cold steel of my life crashing down before me_

He had long since changed out of his evening attire into a pair of sleek, black polyester track pants, and a simple muscle shirt of the same material. He needed to be comfortable, and the bullet proof vest that he was forced to wear was scratchy if not worn with the right shirt. His leather jacket would suffice for warmth during the night.

He sat out in front of the house, shoving cases of ammunition into their slots on his belts, while making sure that his two barrettes were secure in their halters at his hips. Sometimes having to wear all of this infuriated him, but he knew that it was necessary.

Hearing the front door open Yami looked up, spotting Taita leaving he heaved a sigh and vacated from the vehicle. Moving up the path towards his friend, Yami smiled warmly at him, his face lit with the light glow of the nearby streetlights. "How was it?" he questioned.

Shrugging, Taita shuddered against the slight chill of the wind that whipped around him, "Mokuba is rather energetic, and Seto is easy to keep track of, he just stays in his study and works, comes out only when he has to. How was your friend's birthday... the one that you've known since high school?"

Chuckling, Yami rubbed his hands together for warmth, "Bakura, he got spoiled again," he said, shaking his head. "But otherwise he moved back in with us. I find it rather humorous that I am acting as a bodyguard for someone, while back at home I have two childhood friends watching my ass in the exact same way."

"Worried are they?" Taita asked, smirking.

Grunting, Yami ruffled his hair. "That is an understatement. Anyway, I better let you get going, your wife if probably waiting for you," he said, smiling before patting his friend's shoulder and heading towards the front door. "See you tomorrow."

"Yep, have a good night buddy," Taita called, waving briefly before moving towards his car. Cerulean eyes watching as Yami warmly greeted the butler – whom had been waiting with the door open- and strode inside, divesting his jacket as he went.

He had barely removed his jacket when Mokuba came bounding down the stairs, unruly raven colored hair bouncing as he went, a bright smile upon his face at the idea of having another person to show around the immense house. Yami crocked a brow at him, stunned. This boy had more energy then Yugi did on a sugar high. Speaking of the sugar highs, he had to remember to hide Bakura's chocolate when he got home.

"May I take you coat sir?" Victor questioned politely, offering his hand.

Smiling, Yami nodded and handed the cold leather to the butler, barely being able to thank him before the younger Kaiba was bouncing in his face.

He was glad that he had the patience of a saint when it came to children.

"So, you are Mr. Hanata right?" Mokuba inquired, eyes running over the bulletproof vest with curious gray eyes.

"I am," Yami said with a smile, extending his hand to the younger boy, kneeling down slightly so that he was at his level. "And I presume that you are Mokuba?"

The boy smirked, gray eyes laughing as he shook Yami hand. "That's right, Mokuba Tulio Kaiba at your service," he said before smartly saluting.

Chuckling at the boy's enthusiasm, Yami saluted him back. "Your middle name, Tulio, suits you quite well."

Mokuba crocked his head, eyebrow rising in bewilderment, "It does?"

Nodding, Yami rose to his feet, stretching as he did so, watching the eleven-year-old peer at him with those giggling gray eyes. "It means lively in Latin. You seem very high strung at the moment, like my brother usually is."

"Oh, whose your brother," Mokuba asked, bounding towards the couch and jumping upon it, laughing at the wince that Yami made from the sound of the couch scraping against the hard wood as it was shoved back.

"Yugi Hanata," Yami explained, briefly watching Victor move towards the kitchen before re-averting his attention back to the young Kaiba. "He goes to Miami Country Day School."

"Oh Yugi," Mokuba exclaimed, jumping back to his feet. "I've met him a few times, he goes to my school. I should have known that he was your brother, you look exactly alike almost… he's just... more…."

"Innocent, and has lighter skin than I," Yami finished for him, a small smile gracing his features. "He inherited more of my father's traits than I did, unfortunately."

Mokuba moved up to him, gray eyes questioning. "Why is that unfortunate? Isn't that a good thing?" he asked.

Feeling his body stiffen, Yami shrugged, moving towards the stairs. "No, actually, not with how my father was. I need to make a quick phone call Mokuba, excuse me for a moment." With that he left Mokuba with his mouth agape as he made his way upstairs, fishing his cell phone out as he went.

Shaking his head as he reached the top of the stairs, Yami grunted. He knew that this would become difficult. Indeed Mokuba was a rather intelligent young man, he could tell that even through the boy's energetic personality. If he was anything like his elder brother, then Yami might have to put his shields up again.

Sighing, he flipped open his phone before leaning against a nearby wall, barely paying attention to his surroundings. Quickly pressing in the numbers for his home phone, he clicked the send button and placed the contraption to his ear, waiting as it rang loudly.

Absently, his eyes drifted to the dark bruises, which had formed, on his arms. They were in the obvious shape of a handprint, on both of them. He growled at that, only imagining how his neck was, now wishing heavily that he had worn his collar and armbands to cover them.

"Hello, Bakura Ryou speaking," came his friend's voice from the other end.

Chuckling, Yami crossed his arms, this way was typical of his friend. Bakura, ever since they were little, had always answered his phone whenever he got the chance. The young businessman was now so used to answering phone calls that it was more habit than anything. Grunting, he shook his head, "Hey Bakura, I take it that you guys got home alright."

"Yep," Bakura said curtly, realizing who is was. Hearing a playful scream in the background Yami laughed, Joey was obviously being forceful with Yugi and was carrying him to bed, he knew that pitch all too well. "Any trouble with that Kaiba yet?"

Unconsciously Yami shook his head, glancing around him suddenly. "I haven't seen him yet honestly," he answered, catching the light of an open room further down the long hallway. "He's still in his study. I was just attacked by his brother; he has more energy that Yugi on a sugar high."

"You're kidding me," Bakura said in disbelief.

"Nope," Yami chuckled, yawning briefly. "He's high strung at the moment, I'm tempted to tell him to go to bed, but he's not my brother so I can't do that. I take it that Joey has had to resort to carrying Yugi to bed."

"Yeah," Bakura sighed. "Kalie's already in bed, I think, or at least she's in there and is reading or something. Mai's baking though, she's bored already and is making some banana bread."

Rolling his eyes, Yami glanced down at his watch, jumping in surprise when a hand reached out, taking hold of his wrist in a gentle grip. Stumbling to the side, he stared up at the culprit, gasping for breath he placed a hand over his now frantic heart. "You scared the shit out of me," he breathed.

Sighing, Kaiba bowed his head in apology. "I thought that you had seen me, I have been in front of you since you said my name."

Blinking in bewilderment, Yami peered at him for a moment, wondering when the hell he zoned out, only for Bakura to yell on the other end.

"How the hell did I scare the shit out of you Yami?" he demanded.

"No Kura' it wasn't you. It was Seto, apparently he's been standing in front of me for the last minute. I'd better go, I'll see you in the morning alright?" he said, scrubbing his hand through his unruly hair.

"Yep, have a good night."

"Night, don't leave your door open, Yugi might try and drop Itzy on your bed like he did to me this morning," he said, ignoring the quizzical glanced that he was receiving from Seto.

"You mean that damn spider; I'll haunt him for the rest of his life if that… thing… gets anywhere near me. Nasty little fiend, anyway, good night."

"Night," he murmured before closing the phone, making sure that the battery was still decently charged before he shoved it back in his pocket. Sighing, he glanced up at Seto, his expression placid.

"Who's Itzy?" Seto asked, brow crocked, eyes shining in the faint light that drifted up the stairs from the living room.

Bursting out laughing, Yami dropped to the carpet to avoid falling down the stairs, holding his stomach he glanced up at Seto, a wide grin upon his face. "My brother's tarantula."

Alluring cerulean eyes widened in shock, "You allowed him to put that thing in your bed?" he exclaimed.

"No," Yami protested, rising to his feet slowly, using the wall to help him. "He decided to find an inventive way to wake me up in a bet with my friend. What the wager was, I honestly still have no idea, but he dumped the damn thing on my bed and my dog chased it."

Shaking his head Seto moved towards the stairs, "What an eventful way to wake up. May I speak with you for a moment?" he questioned, his eyes almost pleading. "Would you like some tea or coffee?"

"Yes to both," Yami murmured, realizing what the CEO wanted to speak about. Heaving a sigh, he followed Seto downstairs, he knew that it was going to be brought up sooner or later.

Silently, Seto led him into the immense kitchen, seemingly surprise when Yami did not bother peering at his surroundings, most would look like children in a candy store. Politely asking Victor to make them some coffee, he led Yami into the dinning room, pulling back a chair for him before taking the seat next to him. Watching as Yami's fingers ran absently over the freshly polished mahogany table.

"I'm sorry about last night," he murmured, trying to urge Yami to look at him. "I should not have reacted like that, it's just…"

"It hurts more than you thought it would," Yami finished for him, violet eyes lifting to lock with his, knowing and utter melancholy shining brightly in them. "I know the feeling."

"You're mother," Seto said, unknowingly reaching across and gripping the CSI's hand tenderly. Yami glanced at it for a moment, stiffening at first before relaxing, trusting the man before him. "I remember you saying something about her last night."

Nodding, Yami closed his eyes, slowly fighting back the memories. "Yes, it was her. She was murdered, murdered because she tried to protect me," he murmured, eyes drifting back to the table, tears welling within them. "I can still hear her screams. They're what woke me up, and probably what saved my life."

"Who did that to her?" Seto questioned, gently caressing Yami's hand.

A wry smile crept across Yami's lips, his eyes becoming pale and glassy, the tears slowly slid from his eyes, staining his cheeks. "My Father."

A soft gasp escaped Seto's lips, eyes narrowing in shock. "How could he do that?"

Yami chuckled, a dry ghostly sound, "Because she had figured him out, found out what he had been doing for the past… oh… nine years of the twelve that he had been living with us."

"May I ask what he had been doing," Seto said, his voice gentle and non-persistent.

Blinking Yami glanced at him, gasping in shock when the CEO's gentle widespread fingers reached up and tenderly wiped his tears away. Averting his eyes to their hands he bit his lip, "I'd prefer not to talk about it, I'm unstable right now as it is. I am giving you permission to look me up on the internet though, the reports and everything like that are still on there, and always will be no matter how many times I demand that they be taken down. I'm sorry that I cannot tell you straight out Seto, but, I don't want another attack to pass, I've already had one today."

"Are they because of what I did?" Seto asked, concern in his tone.

Shaking his head, Yami used his free hand and rubbed at his eyes, "No, its not. Something had transpired earlier yesterday that put my nerves on overdrive. What you did just fuelled it, nothing more."

"Your coffee Master Kaiba," came Victor's voice as he entered the room, carrying a tray of coffee.

Smiling at him, Seto took the tray, laying it upon the table. "Thank you Victor, may you please see that Mokuba is in bed, I have some things that I need to do."

Nodding, Victor smiled. "Of course," he said before vacating, moving to go and search for the young Mokuba.

Heaving a sigh, Yami reached out and carefully lifted the delicate china cup off of the tray, handing it to Seto before he reached for his own. Placing them gently upon the table he picked up the sugar and cream, allowing Seto to serve himself before he added the needed amount of the two substances.

Silently he sipped at the hot coffee, moaning at the refreshing scent that it sent through him, the reviving power of the liquid removing what little tiredness he had remaining within him. Closing his eyes, he enjoyed the wonderful drink, barely noticing that Seto had left him, moving to the study yet again.

When he had finished his first cup Yami re-opened his eyes, noticing that Seto was no longer there he glanced around almost frantically, feeling suddenly lost and alone. Shuddering he retracted his hands to his torso, trying desperately to hold onto the warmth that had emitted from the CEO moments before. Moaning he squeezed his eyes shut, "Why am I so weak?" he muttered to himself, his voice cracking as tears came to his eyes. "Why?"

Growling, he slammed his fist upon the table, barely feeling the lance of pain that was caused from the action, his eyes shining red with fury. He would not give in, not now, not after all this time. Evening his breathing, he stared down at the empty cup in his hand. He would not become like that, hallow and without a soul. Lucien would not get control of him, Yugi and Kalie were depending on him, and he would be damned if he would abandon them.

Draining another cup of coffee, he gathered up everything and placing it back upon the tray carried it into the kitchen, immediately receiving a shocked expression from Victor. He smiled, "Sorry, I'm used to doing this myself."

Chuckling, Victor took it from his hands and placed it upon the counter, beaming brightly at him. "Trust me, I can tell. You remind me of Seto a little bit, sir. Sometimes he forgets that I am here," he said.

Yami smiled, "I usually forgot about the butler that was in my old house, I adored him so, but I was so used to having to pick up after myself. That's what my mother taught me. So by the time that my father insisted on having one, I was so used to doing things myself."

"Where did you live?" Victor asked politely. "May I ask?"

"Near here, still do, it's about a five minute drive here. I could walk if I wanted to," he expounded, leaning against the counter. "My old house is in an ocean side manor in a cul-de-sac close to my new one. I didn't go very far."

Victor chuckled again, his voice warm and soft green eyes welcoming as he turned on the sink, filling it with water and soup, speaking over the sound of running water as he did so. "Wanted to be close to your parents did you?"

"No," Yami answered, moving from the counter to grab a towel nearby, taking a now clean dish out of the sink as he went and drying it gently. "My mother passed away when I was sixteen. My father I couldn't really give a damn about. No one is living in that house, no one wants it. Most people now a days are not willing to pay that amount of money to fix the damage that was done."

Blinking, Victor watched silently as Yami dried all the dished and placed them on the counter for him to put away. "Thank you for the help Master Yami, but may I ask what sort of damage was done?"

Heaving a sigh, Yami moved to the archway, placing his hand upon the wall he peered at the floor, "Most of the carpet in the house was white, so was the walls. Imagine what tons of blood could do to it," he answered simply, vacating instantly, not waiting for an answer.

1231231231312321312332132132131231231231231232

He was curled up on the couch, the fire burning in the hearth, crackling loudly as the crimson and golden flames dance like provocative lovers, longing for contact. A blanket was wrapped tightly around him as his eyes remained concentrated upon the book in his hands. Violet shifting rapidly as he read at an astounding pace, flipping more then fifteen pages within a minute.

His expression would change, shifting through every type of emotion as he indulged himself in the world of the novel, imagining that he was among the group of English sailors traveling across the Indian and Pacific Ocean, fighting against those that accused them of piracy, and striving to reach their goal of wining the war with the Dutch.

Horrific battle scenes, the boisterous ring of a musket, the cries of lovers in their dance, the screams of those dying, the crippling pain that they endured, and the laughter that passed between the characters filled his thoughts. He was absorbed, lock within this novel, connecting with the characters on a spiritual level.

Seto found himself watching this silently from the darkness of the stairs, the faint glow of the fire and lit candles the only light for the young, beautiful man sitting within his home. Cerulean eyes drifted to the cover of the book, _Wilbur Smith: Birds of Prey, _a novel of his.

Having realized that he had sat here for less than a half hour, he was amazed at the pace the Yami was reading at. He had been at the start of the book when he had come down, no more than twenty pages in, and now he had one hundred left of the near eight hundred.

Impressed, he let a small chuckle pass his lips, "How are you supposed to protect me when you are absorbed in that book?" He was satisfied when Yami jumped in surprise, placing a hand over his beating heart. "I have never seen someone so lost within a novel of that length; you did not even hear me come down the stairs."

Grunting, Yami reached out for his bookmark, and placing it in his place and put the book on the coffee table before moving to Seto, blanket still wrapped around him. "It helps to pass the time," he expounded, a warm smile gracing his glowing features.

Seto returned the gesture, taking Yami's hand he led him towards the rug in front of the fire, urging him to sit down once they reached it. Immediately the two of them were bathed in the intense heat of the fire, the waves of burning air warming them significantly.

"How did you stay quiet for so long?" Seto questioned, wrapping an arm gently around Yami's shoulders, sighing with relief when he did not pull away but snuggle closer to him.

"I don't know," Yami murmured, staring absently at the dancing flames. "I guess because I knew that if I told anyone, Lucien would either take me away, or kill me and the person that I had told. I didn't want Yugi and Kalie to suffer what I did, so I stayed to protect them as well."

The CEO felt his heart go out to the man beside him, comprehending his predicament, all the while knowing that he would never fully understand it, he was never forced to suffer such a life. Gently, and with immense courage, he pulled Yami into his arms, holding him as if they had been life long friends. He felt Yami stiffen with surprise at first before he melted into the embrace, violet eyes closing as he allowed Seto's warmth and his sweet musky scent to envelope him.

Heaving a sigh he shifted so that he could peer up at the CEO, "Thank you," he murmured.

Seto smiled, "Anytime."

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As the week flew by Yami realized that they were coming closer and closer to the two-week mark. If they did not get anything extremely significant then the case would be handed over to Kent. But he had very little time to think about the case.

Every night he was over at the Kaiba mansion after saying good-bye to his friends and siblings. Every night that he was over there he felt a bond beginning to form between him and the two brothers, more so though, to Seto.

He had not noticed it when they had first met, but Seto was extremely attractive. His stunning blue eyes full of passion and a softness that was constantly directed at him. They would spend long fragments of the night sitting together in front of the fire, chatting leisurely, and enjoying each other's company and warmth.

Over the week they had grown closer, spilling their hearts out to each other, laughing together, and simply enjoying the glow of the fire. It passed the time, and it gave Seto a shoulder to cry on, and Yami a way to distract himself from what was transpiring around him. Both thankful for the comfort.

He was astonished, at the end of the week, when he felt a sudden sense of loneliness when he was forced to take one shift off to be able to go to an appointment in the morning. When he had told Seto the CEO seemed unwillingly to allow him to leave, both of them seemingly wanting to spend another night curled up in front of the fire.

He thought back upon this as he stood in his office pouring over the case file, which had become significantly large with information and pictures. The initial crime scene for Rosa's death was found right in Kaiba Corp. Her entire office had been ripped apart, her blood staining the walls, and evidence of the coupling that she had been engaging in with Salatis before it transpired.

The other suspects had been brought in, questioned, and released from custody under house arrest. All things that in his mind were large steps towards finding the killer, or killers as they were now beginning to suspect.

Scanning over the many pictures he leaned back in his seat, violet eyes narrowing as re-stacked them and shoved them back in the file. The sooner Jason and Elijah finished ripping the Kaiba Corporation system apart for evidence of Ivan making any threats, the better.

Heaving a sigh, he ran shaky digits through his hair, closing his eyes as he felt sleep beginning to over take him. Moaning, he glanced up at the clock, five o'clock, he needed to start heading home. Yawning, he rubbed his eyes. He needed coffee badly if he was going to last till at least ten this evening to watch the movies that Joey had rented.

Before he could stand, the phone upon his desk began to ring piercingly, glaring at it he reached out, lifting it from the receiver and placing it to his ear, "Hello, Lieutenant Yami Hanata speaking."

"Hello Lieutenant," came the sweet, giddy voice of the girl at the front reception desk, Freda, if he remembered right. "Someone is here to see you, claiming that he knows something about the case, would you like me to send him down to your office."

His felt his heart beat quicken, if this was a possible witness or someone cracking up then this was the break they could use. "Yes, please send him down," he said, a smirk crossing his somnolent features, suddenly feeling rather awake.

"Yes, sir."

Placing the phone back upon the receiver Yami quickly gathered his things and shoving them in his duffle bag moved to phone his brother. Flicking open his cell phone he pressed in the numbers and waited for Yugi to pick up. As he waited patiently, fingers drumming upon the desk he heard the door open behind him, not bothering to turn before he was done the call.

"Hello?" said Yugi's voice.

"Hey bud," Yami said, shifting as he leaned against the desk, back to the door. "I'll be a little late picking you up alright, just stay at the school and make sure that Kalie is not around that Sparky kid, I don't like him."

Laughter emitted from the other end. "She's already been around him Yami, slapped him hard across the face."

Smiling Yami chuckled, "She's becoming like me. Anyway I have to go, I'll see you in a bit…"

He froze in mid sentence as strong familiar arms wrapped tightly around his waist, holding him in a vice like grip. Instantly he recognized the hold, cell phone slipping from his fingers and clattering to the desk, Yugi's voice screaming at him from the other end. Cautiously he peered over his shoulder, regretting the notion instantly as the man holding him pressed him brutally against the desk, knocking the wind out of him and forcing him to hunch over at the bruise that was now forming on his gut.

"What are you doing here?" Yami demanded, his voice quivering in utter fear as the man began to nip roughly at his exposed neck, shuddering at the unwanted pleasure. "You are supposed to be out of the country."

"Well, little Yami," chuckled a deep, menacing voice, the owner's cool breath drifting across Yami's neck. "I have been without my toy for well over four years, I wanted to have some fun."

Adrenaline rushed through Yami's system, crying out he struggled furiously against Lucien's hold. It cost him dearly within seconds. A primal growl hissed through Lucien's mouth, his frustration and heated fury boiling through, the very sound forcing Yami to freeze and stiffen before the blow.

A small cry escaped his lips, pain and fear laced within it as Lucien's stronger and taller form hefted him up and tossed him like a doll over the desk, his back colliding with the corner of the metal filing cabinet, crippling him instantaneously.

His body was shaking furiously, his mind screaming in a mantra THIS IS NOT HAPPENING. Footsteps reached his ears and he stiffened, ignoring the intense pain that ripped through him as he kicked out at Lucien's feet, holding back a sound of terror he missed his target and the man was bale to kneel down.

A handsome face stared back at him, a near mirror image of Salatis', save he was built more in the shoulders, and his musculature bulged through the long-sleeved shirt he wore. Deep black eyes laughed at him, mocking him, and reflecting the image of him lying upon the ground, back throbbing and too frightened to move. An image that he had seen many times before.

Lucien reached out, gripping Yami's face in a crushing grip and forced him into a sitting position, their faces inches apart. "Scream once," he began, holding a silver pistol beside Yami's head, pressing the cool metal to his temple. "And I will not hesitate to fire this weapon and take you away."

Frightened tears came to his eyes, utter terror coursing through his veins, "You're not real, you can't be," he muttered, trying to convince himself. "This is not happening."

Throwing his head back Lucien laughed boisterously, dark eyes shining with pleasure as he shoved his son to the floor, slamming his head against the tile floors. "I am very real Yami, maybe I should show you how real before I have my way with you."

"No," Yami choked out, his voice dry and pleading as the shaking within his body began to increase to a constant shiver. "Please no, Lucien don't."

He was instantly silenced by a heavy fist colliding with his cheek, snapping his head to the side. Immediately the blows began to rain down, his sides, torso, face, and arms receiving punch after punch. Holding back his screams he writhed in pain underneath his father, tears coming to his eyes as his mind played back the images like this, of Lucien on top of him, hurting him.

Fear filled him to the brim, forcing him to stay still and merely cover his face in hopes of surviving this. His mind screaming at him to move, to fight, to use the training that he had, but his body was too afraid. So he lay there, twisting in agony as the blows continued to rain down upon him, forming dark bruises that would soon mar his tanned flesh.

Satisfied Lucien sat back, staring at his handy work, smirking before he leaned down, tongue grazing the earlobe that he found. "I am real Yami, and I am here to stay. You belong to me still, and you will do as told and come with me."

"No," Yami gasped out, violet eyes glazed with fear stared up boldly at him. "I'm not going anywhere with you, get off." Ignoring the pain he thrashed out, his own fists colliding first with Lucien's torso, then his face snapping it roughly to the side.

He instantly regretted it, black eyes returned to his seething with fury, his movements precise and slow like a panther about to pounce in the darkness upon an unknown prey. Swallowing hard, Yami held back a scream as his face was grabbed, lifting his head from the ground before it was shoved against the tiles again, the sound echoing through the room as the tears in his eyes began to cascade down.

His vision was spinning, threatening to drag him into unconsciousness as the gun was pressed to his head, a single widespread hand tearing his lower garments off, exposing him to the cool air of the office. He tried to struggle, arms crossing and pushing against Lucien's torso as the man slithered up him. A whimper of fear passing from him as he felt Lucien's arousal touch him, the fear urging him to wriggle away, but those same hands gripped his hips, holding them still before their owner thrust forward, joining them.

His back arched and the tears already upon his cheeks became a constant flow, the pain ripping through his was enough to tear him apart. Gasping and kicking out at the floor he bit his lip in anguish, feeling Lucien begin to move against him, pressing him roughly into the tile as his grip upon his hips tightened.

Biting his lip, he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to urge him mind to wake up and show him that this was all a bad dream. But when he re-opened them Lucien was still on top of him, still pounding viciously into him, forcing him to hold back his screams and to try to use his arms to shove the man away.

Then he realized something, his body going numb against the pain as he narrowed his eyes, both of Lucien's hands were upon him, where was the gun. Gasping, the anguish tearing through him enveloping him again as he glanced around, holding back a cry of joy as he spotted the gun a few centimeters away from his head. This was his ticket out, reaching out he gripped the cool metal and tossed it boldly towards the far end of the room and underneath one of the low hanging drawers on his desk.

Taking his chance he inhaled sharply and screamed out in desperation, his voice cracking as he did so against the force. "SOMEONE HELP!"

Lucien stopped in his movements, pulling back and fixing his clothing reached towards where the gun had originally been. Realizing that it was gone his face became a mask of panic, his eyes widening as he glared down at his broken son, legs urging him to move and scramble towards the door.

"Bastard, I'll finish with you later," he snapped before flinging the door open and careening out into the hallway, people scrambling out of his way.

Now that he had taken a moment to watch Lucien run the adrenaline had fully left his body, leaving nothing but the pain and fear that filled him to the brim. Crying out he curled into himself, the pain overwhelming him.

"Yami!" cried Taita, bounding into the room. Having heard his friend scream he had vacated the morgue as quickly as possible; Jason, Elijah, and Abby in tow. Cerulean orbs widened as he watched his friend curl into himself upon the floor, lower half exposed and bruised for the entire world to see, and blood smeared across the white tiles.

Thinking fast, he moved towards him, hands gripping him tightly, instantly feeling the shuddering within Yami's form. He bit his lip, Yami was going into shock. Divesting his jacket and shirt he wrapped them around Yami's middle and pulled him to his chest, wincing as he heard the moan that caused the action. Heaving a breath, he caressed Yami's head, soothing him and lifting him from the cool tile floor to rest in his lap, cradling him like a mother to her infant.

"Lucien," Yami gasped out, hands gripping Taita's arms for support. "He… he was here… he's back."

Snarling, Taita unconsciously tightened his hold on his friend. How dare that bastard touch Yami again. "Jason, call Joey. Abby go grab some extra lab coats, we need to keep him warm, he is starting to go into shock."

Nodding obediently Abby dashed out of the room, shoving spectators within the hall aside, while Jason moved to the phone, frantically dialing the number. Having nothing to do Elijah removed his jacket and wrapped it around Yami's shoulders, moving to press hold Yami from the back to help secure him and keep him warm.

The next ten minutes passed like hours, Taita and Elijah continued to hold Yami, covering him with the lab coats and keeping him as warm and still as they possibly could. Jason and Abby worked to get the spectators away, assuring those that actually knew the young CSI that they would released his condition in the morning.

When Bakura, Mai, and Joey reached the office the politely asked the CSI's to step aside and allow them to take it from there. Immediately Joey lifted Yami into his arms, lab coats and all, and carried him to the vehicle while Bakura and Mai started it up. Laying Yami across the seats Joey sat upon the floor stroking his face, now damp with sweat, all the while keeping him still upon the seat.

From there to Yami, it was nothing but a blur. He was barely conscious as they waited in the hospital and during the hour that the doctors were checking him and x-raying his entire body to check for breaks.

His alertness began to slowly return as Joey carried him back out to the vehicle, his painkillers and medical cream in a bag, while the cool night air drifted over his flesh, chilling him to the bone. He moaned at this, the chilling weather removing what little heat was still within him, forcing him to wrap his arms tighter around Joey's neck to seek out his warmth.

Joey seemed to sense this, his one hand staying around Yami's hips, while the other moved to rub his back, creating heated friction there. "Mai, could you please grab the blanket from the truck."

Quickly taking the bag of medical supplies from Joey's hand Mai moved to the truck, silently opening the door while Bakura moved to fire up the engine. Retrieving the blanket from the backseat, Mai gently covered Yami's form before moving to the front passenger seat, buckling herself in.

Gingerly, Joey clambered into the backseat, keeping Yami in his arms as he went, knowing that any loss of physical contact now might send Yami into an attack. Something that he did not need at the moment

Shifting, he stretched Yami's legs out across the rest of the seat before buckling in, holding Yami tightly as they drove back to the house. Heaving a sigh, he gently caressed Yami's face, watching as violet eyes fixed upon the ceiling above him, unwavering yet unfocused.

"Say something bud," Joey murmured. "You've been silent since we picked you up. Say something… please."

Yami's eyes blinked in response, showing that he was not completely out of it, but not a word passed his lips.

"Please Yami," Joey pleaded, cupping Yami's face in his hands. "You're scaring me, say something."

"Why Joey? Why now?" muttered Yami, voice horse and weak.

Crocking a brow Joey scowled slightly in bewilderment, "Why what?"

"Why did he have to come back," Yami continued, his voice cracking from the tears that were beginning to well in his eyes, said violet orbs turning to gaze up at his friend. "I was so close, so close to being normal for once in my life, and he has to come back. Why?"

Without hesitation Joey pulled Yami back into his lap, cradling Yami's head against his shoulder, allowing his friend to cry his heart out, "I don't know," he whispered. In truth he did not, why Lucien would suddenly come back now was beyond him, and doing that right away simply bewildered him.

Heaving a sigh, he continued to sooth his friend till Yami's breath evened out in slumber moments before they reached the house. Joey grunted, this was going to be a long next few days, he could tell.

A/N: sorry if the end seems rushed, but I needed to update this, I feel bad for not updating it last week when I was a few paragraphs off damn science teacher and her stupid homework obsession (must strangle her /grows/ must kill her) Review please


	6. Chapter 6

**Author:** Yami Neferbre

**Title: Crimson Trust**  
**Disclaimer**: I do not own Yugioh, or CSI Miami, or Waste by Staind, or No by Shakira

**Paring**: SetoxYami  
**Rating**: R (just to be safe with the content)

**Warning**: Violence, language, sexual content, rape

**Spoilers**: None  
**Summary**: Yami has always been lied to, always been betrayed and hurt. Working as a special agent for the CSI crime lab in Miami he finds peace while raising his younger siblings. But an old enemy has returned, and a wonderful man just entered his life. Can he trust a stranger, or will he simply give up on life all together.

Story idea came from the song _Waste _by _Staind_  
**Status: **6/32! (This is not definite, there is one chapter that I believe might become lengthy, or I might want to have more in it and it may become two chapters, I don't know yet, but this is a general number)

**A/N:** _Well I must say that this fic is addicting….lol….so much so that I am so stuck on my other ones that it is becoming a hazard for my own health (stares at pile of lost hair clumps). I do remember saying at the beginning of this fic- funny enough- that this story was not my top priority. (smiles) I guess I was wrong in that notion, lol… anyway hope you enjoy, and hope that all of those that are reading my other fics….that you can be patient and wait for this writers block to dissipate. . _

_**SIX**_

_But these words   
They can't replace the life you waste_

Sighing deeply, he leaned heavily against the kitchen counter, hazel eyes falling shut in somnolence as he listened to the rhythmic spluttering of the kettle beside him. He felt himself drifting towards sleep, the lovely thing drawing him in like the arms of a lover, encircling him and holding him tightly. Then the boisterous rattle of the kettle as it screamed loudly knocked him back into reality.

Moaning, he reached out, pulled the plug from the wall, and moved to pour the steaming water into the teapot. Swirls of silver steam twisted around his fingers, dampening them with their boiling temperature. He barely felt it, his fatigue holding him firmly in its clutches as he made the tea.

His mind drifted back to his friend, whom was unconscious upstairs and would wake soon in need of his painkillers. He was filled with worry, last night when he had brought Yami home with Bakura and Mai, the young man had been utterly broken and unresponsive. The only time that he had spoken was in the vehicle, otherwise he made pained noises, but that was all.

He had clung to him during the night until he had switched places with Bakura not long after three, whom had left for work no more than twenty minuets ago. When Yami had finally drifted off to sleep, he muttered feverishly, thrashing about as tears coursed down his cheeks from shut eyelids.

Realizing that the water was over flowing from the teapot onto the counter he cried out in surprise and dismay, placing the cursed kettle into the sink. Retrieving a towel from a nearby drawer he mopped up the puddle on the counter, then removing some of the excess water from the tea pot, added the tea bags and honey before placing the lid over it to let it seep.

A knock caught his attention, fearing that it would wake Yami he dashed to the door, nearly hitting the couch as he went. Unlocking it he pulled it open, hazel eyes widening in surprise at the man standing at the other side of the door, troubled cerulean eyes gazing back at him.

"Seto?" he murmured questionly, stepping back to allow the CEO in, closing the door behind him to ward off the cool wind that gusted in. "What are you doing here?"

"Taita told me that Yami was not well enough to come tonight, I wanted to make sure that he was alright," Seto whispered. Catching on, Joey to hastily removed his jacket and shove it into the closet.

Grunting, Joey moved to the kitchen, opening one of the cupboards he reached in to grab the cups, "Do you want one?"

"Please," Seto answered politely, removing his shoes and striding into the kitchen, taking a seat at the breakfast bar.

Nodding curtly Joey poured the three separate cups, handing one to Seto before moving into the living room. Gingerly he began to shove the couches to the edge of the white carpet along with the coffee table, making room for the mattress that he was brining upstairs.

"I'll put it simple Seto," said Joey, his voice low as he made his way back into the kitchen, taking his own cup and sipping the hot liquid. "I know that Yami allowed you to look up his past, so you know the basics of his childhood. Well… Lucien came back yesterday."

Seto's throat tightened at hearing that, almost making him choke on the tea that he was drinking. Placing the cup upon the counter he directed his gaze to Joey, watching as firm fists clenched and hazel eyes squeezed shut in anger. He remained silent, allowing Joey to let this out at his own pace.

Jaw popping, and teeth grinding viciously against each other Joey tried to bend all of his anger upon something other than the man before him. He did not wish to wake Yami to his yelling; it would not help their situation. Taking a deep, cleansing breath he unlocked his jaw, tear filled eyes lifting to Seto, filled to the brim with furious anger and protectiveness.

"That bastard… came back," he began, trying to keep his voice down. "He came back… and hurt the person that is the closest thing that I have to a brother again. He attacked him in his office, beat him senseless and forced himself upon him in a public place. If Yami had not screamed and kicked the gun away, he would be God knows where with that bastard, being forced to act like a whore to Ra knows who."

Seto continued to remain silent, reassuring Joey that he was there by keeping his eyes locked with the blondes.

Taking another breath Joey tried to settle his nerves, his heart was pounding against his chest, and his pulse was throbbing rapidly under his flesh, making his blood boil with his raging fury. Flexing his hands he forced a wry smile at the CEO. "He doesn't deserve this, he never did," he muttered, sobs cracking his voice. "He had been doing so well, he had not had a single attack in over a year, his medical condition was barely bothering him, he was allowed to cease going to the psychiatrist. Then that… bastard had to come back."

Heaving a sigh Seto rubbed his neck with uneasiness. He could not say that everything would be all right; he knew that another battle was starting to rage within this household again, and Yami was again the target. Clenching his own hands he bit his lip, and he would be damned if he did not help.

A chilling scream ripped through the house, breaking the silence that had hung over the two of them. The two of them glanced briefly at each other before Joey sprinted towards the stairs, taking them two at a time as a loud sobbing reached them. Getting to his feet Seto followed swiftly behind, bounding up the stairs at a pace that he did not know he could do.

Throwing the door open Joey gasped harshly, breath being caught in his throat as he moved instantly to Yami's side. The young man had curled up at the edge of the bed upon the floor, his hands covering his tear stained face as fresh tears joined them, his body shaking violently.

Non-persistently Joey knelt down beside his friend, gripping his hands tightly and pulling them away from his face, wincing at the frightened cry that was ripped from that parched throat, and the weak struggles suddenly coming from the body before him. Holding back his own tears of worry he cupped Yami's face in his hands, forcing him to look at him, locking their eyes together to snap Yami back into reality.

Within an instant Yami launched himself at Joey, burying his face in his chest and desperately gripping his tee-shirt, hands convulsing as he did so. Heart wrenching sobs scratched their way out of Yami's throat, causing more pain, "Don't leave Joey, please don't leave."

Rubbing soothing circles over Yami's back, Joey whispered gently into his ear, glancing at Seto through the corner of his eyes as he did so, "I won't buddy, I promise, I won't."

Seto stared at the sight before him in utter shock. Over the week and a bit that he had known Yami he had found him to be a strong, level headed individual who never gave up, and never backed down. Watching him break down like an insecure child tore at his heart, ripping it apart piece by piece with a blunt blade. Blue eyes filled with tears of utter heartache and of fury, no one deserved to be put through this, no one.

Joey scanned Seto's eyes, surprised when he found overwhelming protectiveness and love shining in them like a beacon to the world. He realized then the emotions that the CEO held towards his friend, and he felt himself smile inwardly at that, only a week and Seto seemed to have fallen hard.

He was snapped back into reality as Yami gave out a small cry of anguish, the CSI just then remembering what he had endured the day before, his body screaming in agony. Joey felt his grip tighten upon his shirt, and Yami's body arching against the over powering pain that shot up his spine.

Turning to Seto he asked, "Can you fill the bathtub with hot water, I need to get him to relax," he expounded, trying to keep his writhing friend still as Seto moved to the bathroom.

Tenderly he lifted Yami to his feet, holding him steady as he reached for a pair of baggy shorts upon the floor. Removing his friend's night garment he laid Yami down upon the bed, apologizing as he gently pulled the shorts on, hands running over dark bruises as he went.

Pressing a soft, comforting kiss to Yami's brow Joey lifted him again, being mindful of the bruises, several stressed ribs, wounded rear, and pounding head of his friend. Heaving a sigh he moved towards the bathroom, the hot steam immediately running over him as he kicked the door open.

Seto had done as bided; the tub was nearly full, the water level being watched closely by the CEO.

When Seto spotted him he turned off the water, moving back to the toilette so that he was out of the way, allowing Joey to place Yami's battered body into the soothing water.

Joey heard a moan escape Yami's lips; the sound was not pained but grateful. Smiling at that, he encouraged Yami to lie fully back, resting his head against the cool ceramic tub.

Reaching across he took the cloth from its place and squeezed some of the bath scrub onto it, massaging it into a foam with his digits. Gently taking Yami's wrist he pulled his arm slowly, watching as Yami winced against the pain, eyes closing tightly. Waiting for a moment Joey waited until Yami's expression softened before running the cloth softly over his marred flesh, removing the filth and soothing the stiff and sore muscles.

He loved how fast the water could soothe Yami, it was his most effective tool in calming him when the attacks had first began when Yami as twelve. It had been a learning process, and he had slowly been forced to learn Yami's different reactions, and this was the best thing to alleviate him.

Lying upon his side Yami opened his eyes, watching Joey slowly wash his arm with the soap covered cloth, the scent of lavender and roses wafting over him and enveloping his senses. Heaving a calming breath he nuzzled closer to Joey, eyes drifting to Seto, only now realizing that he was there.

Seto smiled affectionately at him, his eyes warm and caring, assuring him that he was not going to try anything as he held the candle and match up in his hands. Blinking, Yami watched Seto light a few of the candles in the room, setting them on the counter and along the end of the tub by his feet before turning the glaring light off as he went, allowing the soft glow of the candles to surround him.

Moaning he relaxed leisurely in the water, closing his eyes as Joey slowly tried to caress the pain from his muscles and the bruises with the hot water and soothing cloth. Needing something more, more comfort he reached out to Seto, his hoarse voice cracking out, "Seto, I need your hand, I need it… just to know that both of you are here."

Without hesitation Seto moved to kneel down beside Joey on the floor, reaching out and taking the hand that was extended in his direction, taking it in his grasp and holding it tightly, interlocking his fingers with Yami's. He relished the feel of the smooth, angelic flesh against his own, heaving a deep sigh he brought up his other hand, covering their interlocking digits with it.

Joey glanced at him, smiling gratefully as he continued to gently wipe away the filth upon his friends flesh. Winking at Seto he held back a chuckled. The CEO blushed, a snarl passing over his face in realization, his dignity damaged. Obviously Seto had not known how apparent he was being about his affections, though surprisingly Yami had yet to notice them over the last week.

Averting his attention to Yami he smiled genuinely to himself, staring contently at Yami's serene features. Yami needed someone like Seto, someone strong, and someone that would willingly be there for him, which would protect him.

"Joey?" Yami muttered, his voice barely above a whisper as his violet eyes slid open.

"Yes," Joey answered, leaning forward.

"Pain medications please," he pleaded, eyes welling in pain. "That water is soothing my nerves and my muscles, but not the other region."

Knowingly Joey rose to his feet, "I'll be right back then, try not to move to much buddy," he advised before vacating the room.

Watching Joey go Seto heaved a sigh; looking back at Yami he bit his lip, as his heart broke again for the second time in the last ten minutes. Yami's eyes were filled with anguished tears, his body stiffening as the adrenaline from his nervous attack, and a small groan of agony was torn from his lips.

Instinctively he reached out with his free hand, delving it under the surface of the hot water, gently placing it upon Yami's exposed side. Yami stared up at him, uncertainty flooding through, mingling with the pain. Giving him a comforting smile Seto moved his hand tenderly over the smooth flesh, finally able to rub gentle circles over the young man's back.

Yami clearly at first did not know how to react, but when that skilled hand pressed into his lower back, soothing the muscles there he moaned in response, trying to urge the CEO to continue.

Closing his eyes Yami relaxed into Seto's soft hands, shifting closer to the edge of the tub. Then he realized something, he had only known the CEO for just over a week and already he had let him in. This was not normal, and how did he not realize it before. Sitting by the fire that first night should have been the first cue, and now, allowing him to caress his nearly bare body. He furrowed his brow, how had he let Seto in so fast?

Opening his eyes he stared up at Seto, admiring that serene face for a moment before he murmured, "Why are you so different?"

Confused Seto crocked a brow, ceasing in his movements to stare into those alluring violet eyes, "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Yami murmured, eyes narrowing. "What's made you so different? How could you get this close to me in such a short amount of time? Why didn't I stay cautious with you, especially with what happened the other day? How is it that you can touch me like this and my body does not react in fear like it does to anyone else? What is so different about you? I don't understand."

Seto bit his lip, unsure how to answer that question. He admitted that over the past few days Yami had obviously been thrown for a loop. The case, Salatis and Lucien returning and tormenting him, and having to rapidly become a bodyguard to someone he barely knew. Possibly it was because of that, because Yami's mind and emotions were out of his control at the moment. It was a logical explanation to why Yami had so willingly allowed him to hold him the other night as if they had known each other for years.

Sighing he removed his hand from the water, giving the young man a soft smile. "Perhaps your shields are down because your emotions are in a jumble," he suggested.

Blinking Yami averted his gaze, it was quite possible. "Perhaps," he murmured.

"He's usually like this after an attack… physical contact usually is the only thing keeping him from having another," Joey stated from the doorway, bag of medicine in his hand. Moving towards his friend he knelt back down at the edge of the tub.

"Apparently," Yami murmured, frustration kicking in. "That's probably why I have been so… 'cuddly'… this week."

"Probably buddy," Joey said, placing the medicine in the sink. "But he is right about one thing Seto, how could the two of you get this close to each other this fast. The last person he did that to was Bakura, and he trusted him because they met by Bakura helping me get him away from Lucien in one of his rages."

Seto shrugged, he did not understand it either, or why he was so caring towards the CSI, nothing seemed to make sense lately.

"I don't know," he answered.

Sighing, Joey moved to help Yami out of the tub, the hot water was beginning to turn the young mans skin crimson. Yami held back pained noises as he rose slowly to his feet, using Joey's arm and the wall for support. Gingerly he stepped out of the tub, stumbling slightly as he did so.

Scowling at this, Joey wrapped the towel around Yami's shoulders, "Take it easy bud," he warned. Instantly he bit his tongue at the snarl that rapidly crossed Yami's face, knowingly he glanced at Seto. "Could you leave us alone for a minute, I need to apply his medication."

Nodding curtly, Seto left the bathroom, closing the door behind him as he went to give the two friends some privacy. Heaving a sigh, he leaned against the wall, burning digits running through thick chestnut hair as cerulean eyes closed in thought. He furrowed his brow. "I can't let this happen again," he murmured to himself, passion and determination clear in his tone. "I'll break that bastard if he so much as comes near him again."

Regaining his composure, he glanced at the door, hearing Yami and Joey talking softly he pushed himself from the wall and moved downstairs, intent on heating the tea while he waited for them to finish. Moving into the upstairs living room he peered around, taking in the warmth of the house for the first time since he had arrived.

The carpet beneath his feet coated the upstairs, its soft terracotta orange shade a perfect accent to the light oak hardwood and baseboards. The walls, for the most part, were either a stark white or a pale orange. All in all, the house held a fall theme, simplistic, but gorgeous.

"I take it that you like it," asked Yami's voice softly, startling him and forcing him to turn around. Nodding Seto smiled warmly, staring at the beautiful man who leaned against the nearby wall entering the living room, clad in nothing but a pair of silk violet pyjama pants, a matching top, and a white house coat.

"Very much so," he murmured, cerulean eyes beaming at the young man. "It is very simple… yet elegant, I love it, more so than my own home."

Grunting Yami closed his eyes, seemingly fighting off a wave of pain, "It reminds me of Halloween."

Grasping the railing surrounding the living room Seto chuckled, staring at Yami with bliss, "I thought that it was more like autumn."

Blinking, Yami peered around for a moment. "That too," he agreed quietly, violet eyes devoid of emotion as he continued to take in his surroundings. "I need to clean this place up soon, Yugi and Kalie obviously haven't done their chores yet."

"Don't worry about that Yami," assured Joey's voice as he moved into the living, a load of thick comforters, sheets, and pillows in his arms. Hefting it over the railing he watched it topple to the hardwood floor below, earning a growl and a glare from Yami. Shrugging he moved back to his friend, wrapping an arm around his waist and stationing one of Yami's arms around his shoulders. "Mai and I will get it done. Yugi and Kalie both have to study tonight remember… they have exams on Monday."

Scowling, Yami allowed Joey to support him towards the stairs, taking a single step at a time as the pain in his backside and bruised limbs ripped through him. Holding back anguished sounds he signalled for Seto to meet them at the bottom before gripping the railing with his free hand and taking the first step down the stairs.

Gasping sharply he stopped, taking in a deep breath, closing his eyes against the agony that had rapidly engulfed him. His grip upon the railing tightened, his knuckles turning white from the effort as he clenched his teeth, grinding them together.

Feeling Yami stiffen Joey stopped in his decent, peering down at his friend, "Take it easy, one step at a time buddy, I don't need you hurting yourself more," he said gently.

Exhaling a shaky breath, Yami opened his eyes, tears of anguish threatening to cascade down his cheeks. Tender hands removed his own from the railing, another tall firm body moving to his other side on the wide staircase. Lifting his gaze he was met with encouraging cerulean. Gratitude filled his eyes, "Thank you, Seto," he murmured, receiving a grin from the other.

Slowly they made their way down the stairs, stopping at each to allow Yami to catch his breath and breathe through the wave of pain that cascaded over him from this much movement. Both Seto and Joey knew not to offer to carry him; Yami could easily snap in anger and loose his balance. So, silently they moved to the bottom of the stairs, painful inch by painful inch.

Upon reaching the bottom, Seto continued to hold Yami upright while Joey quickly put the sheets, the comforter, and pillows on the mattress. Once done he encouraged Yami to lie down upon it, helping him as he went while Seto went to re-heat the tea.

Moaning, Yami snuggled into the thick ebony pillow, closing his eyes as he tried to find a comfortable position, one where he was not laying upon a bruise. He rapidly found out that that was nearly impossible, finally resorting to laying upon his side and shoving a pillow between his legs to keep his knees from banging and to lessen the agony in his back.

Joey sighed as he watched this, barely noticing the sounds if the microwave being opened and closed, and the beeping that would follow signalling that the tea was warm again. Reaching out he brushed one of Yami's still damp blond bangs behind his ear, "Hungry?"

"A little."

"Soup sound good?" he questioned, as Seto moved over to him and handed him two cups of tea. Shifting he held the cup out for his friend to take, wincing as Yami hefted himself up into a semi sitting positing, leaning his back against the couch. Receiving a nod Joey rose to his feet, immediately moving to make the small meal for the three of them, eyes never leaving Yami as he carefully gulped down the tea.

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Five days passed like years, the days lasting seemingly as long as a single week, so much transpiring, yet so little. There had been no sign of Lucien, no word, no sighting, nothing; it was as if it had all been a dream. But the marks said otherwise.

Over this time period Seto watched on his visits as the bruises worsened in colour, then slowly began to lessen, the decrease was barely noticeable, but the mobility of Yami's limbs had improved, a sign that he was healing. He had been removing himself from the mattress, clinging to something as he went, but nonetheless getting around decently on his own. The painkillers helped, to some degree, but the pain was still there when he moved the wrong way, as was the stiffness.

The concussion was gone, the pupils within those violet orbs were now the right size, and he was now able to finally focus upon things.

Moaning, Yami curled up upon the couch, closing his eyes as he listened to the throbbing of the rain outside as it cascaded towards the ground, soaking the concrete and grass around them. The crackling of the fire in the hearth mingling with it, along with the clanging and sloshing as Kalie and Mai quickly did the dishes, soft Latino music playing in the background.

Nearby- now that the mattress had been removed and the living room was back in its original set up- Yugi and Joey enthusiastically played one of their video games, the volume fairly low out of respect. While Bakura sat on the opposite couch, watching the two with interest.

Sighing deeply, he pulled the blanket tighter around him, snuggling into its warmth, along with the heat radiating from the fire. Content, he was quite willing to submit himself to slumber, stay here until he could no more, and return to his own room.

He would have fallen asleep if the phone had not rung, blaring through his fog of near silent. Cursing, he opened his eyes, hefting himself up into a sitting position against the armrest as Kalie dashed frantically for the phone.

Ignoring the piercing glare that her brother was giving the contraption in her soapy hand, Kalie answered into the receiver, "Hello, this is Akalia Hanata speaking."

"_Hey K-ster, this is Taita, is Yami awake?" _

Glancing at her brother she pointed to the phone, moving towards him as he shuffled the blanket around his form, trying to bring heat back to his body. "He sure is, just a second please Taita," she answered sweetly before handing the contraption to her fuming brother.

"Hey Taita," Yami answered, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, shifting to get comfortable on the couch.

"_Hey, how are you feeling?" _

"Alright… I suppose," he answered, wincing as he brushed against a particularly sensitive bruise. "Uncomfortable as hell."

"_Are you mobile?" _

"Kind of," muttered Yami, giving up and laying across the couch, legs dangling over the arm rest. "Why?"

"_The director wants to talk to us, all of us. Its about the case, we need to present the information we have so far, and convince him to let us keep working on it." _

"Have you guys found anything new since I left?" he questioned, stifling raising to his feet, ignoring the scowl the he instantly obtained from Bakura from the notion. Biting his lip against a lance of pain that shot up his back, he gripped the back of the couch, leaning on it for support.

"_Yeah, some minor details, little things. The only major thing that we have found was her husband saying that they were getting a divorce because he found out about her cheating." _

"Anything else?" he grunted, moving towards the stairs, nodding a thank you to Bakura as he wrapped an arm around his waist, keeping him steady as he made his way upstairs.

"_The blood found in the Kaiba manor was a match to Ivan. So we've been able to keep him behind bars, along with Salatis. Elijah and Jason also found an entire file, which had been deleted by someone other than Azucena, on threats created by Ivan… and Santo Aristo. Salatis told us who told him what to do… and who was at the murders... but nothing more. Information as well has been found proving what Salatis said Yami, we know that Santo is targeting either me, Gabe, or you. But that's all we got." _

Stepping into his room Yami glanced at Bakura, asking him to take a seat before moving to find his towel. "Don't we have enough evidence to at least incriminate Ivan and put him behind bars?"

"_No,"_ said Taita, exasperated. "_We've already presented it to the DA, its not enough, we need the murder weapon, otherwise we can't finish the case." _

"How do you know that it's us that Santo wants?" Yami questioned, rapidly pulling his wardrobe open and shuffling through for a decent dress shirt and pants.

"_It said in one of the threats on file_," stated Taita, shuffling around in the background, his typing becoming apparent. "_It tells Azucena that if she did not shut down Kaiba Corp. and stop us from finding out about them, then not only would they take her and her family down, but they would kill us. Apparently she refused, thinking that her bodyguards would be able to protect her_."

"What time do you want me over there?" he questioned, finding a shirt and tossing it onto his bed. Bakura glared at him, eyes demanding, Yami held up a single finger asking his friend to wait while he finished.

"_Within the hour," _said Taita.

"Alright, I'll be there as soon as I can, see you then," he stated, grabbing a nearby towel and moving towards the door, his movements slow and robotic.

"_Alright, take it easy buddy, there's no rush,"_ Taita said knowingly from the other end.

Grunting, Yami hung up the phone, clicking the off button and tossing it onto the bed. Heaving a sigh he leaned against the doorway, staring at Bakura as he tried to catch his breath, his body screaming at him in agony.

Bakura was scowling deeply, his dark eyes tinted red. "I don't want you going anywhere Yami. You are still not in good enough condition to go out into public. You had two attacks today, that's more than any other day since he returned."

"I know Bakura, trust me," Yami murmured, closing his eyes. Heaving a breath he ran his hand through his hair, which was now damp with sweat. Realizing this he ran his fingertips over his face, cursing at the sweat that was forming there. "Going up and down the stairs is an effort."

"All the more of a reason for you to stay here, take a long soak, and rest," snapped Bakura, his eyes shining with protectiveness even through the darkness. The only thing illuminating the room was the eccentric flash of lightning that burst from the heavens.

Yami chuckled wryly, "I can't abandon my team, this is my case too Bakura, I need to be there to help them keep it."

Snarling, Bakura rose to his feet, moving to stand before his friend, eyes locking with those alluring violet orbs. "You are so fucking stubborn that it's not even funny. Obviously, you don't understand what condition your body is in at the moment."

Narrowing his eyes Yami scowled, furious anger boiling within him. "I have to help my team Bakura; I think I can handle myself for a few hours sitting in an office."

"How do you know that he won't come around?" Bakura snapped, placing a hand beside Yami's head on the doorframe. "How do you know if you'll be able to stand the drive there and back? Tell me that Yami."

Clenching his fists Yami stared at Bakura with heated anger. "I'll see you in a bit Bakura," he said, trying to move towards the bathroom, but his friend stopped him in his tracks, gripping his shoulder in a gentle but firm hold. "Let me go Bakura."

"Not until I get some reason into that thick skull of yours," Bakura growled, leaning forward till their faces were but centimetres apart. "I wont let you hurt yourself for this damn job."

His body began to shudder, subtly but it was enough, his vision began to flash, images of an incident long gone playing before his eyes. Gasping he reached out and gripped Bakura's shoulders for support, begging him to snap him out of this.

Realizing what was transpiring, Bakura pulled Yami tightly to him, holding him and leaning back against the opposite door frame. The shuddering immediately decreased, allowing Yami to lean against him, his body lethargic as he tried to take in a proper breath.

"Thank you," Yami murmured, groaning in pain as he moved away, heading towards the bathroom.

Shaking his head, Bakura reached out to Yami, taking his wrist in his hand, forcing the CSI to turn back to him. "You just had another one Yami, it was small, but still. Stay home, please," he beseeched, eyes pleading.

"I can't," Yami said with a ghostly smile before removing his hand from Bakura grasp and moving into the bathroom, closing the door behind him as he went.

Heaving a sigh, Bakura leaned against the wall, staring at the bathroom door with worry. "I hope that your stubbornness does not get you into trouble," he murmured, turning on the bedroom light, allowing the brilliant glow to fill the hallway. "I really do buddy."

Once he was dressed and clad in a long trench coat Yami moved to the front door, pulling the hood over his still damp ebony spikes. Heaving a sigh, he glanced at everyone. "I'll be back in a bit, not more than two hours hopefully," he stated, pulling his shoes on.

"Yami," Yugi said, dashing to his brother's side, grabbing his arm in a gentle grip. His voice was desperate, and his eyes shined with worry. "Please don't go, please."

Sensing that something was off Yami turned to his sibling, easing himself into a kneeling position and staring up into the younger mans eyes. "What's wrong Yugi?"

Kalie moved over to join them, urging her brother to stand up, embracing him immediately as he did so. "It's too dangerous Yami, don't go out there."

Holding Kalie tightly he glanced worriedly at Bakura, Joey and Mai, who shrugged in bewilderment at the behaviour that the two teenagers were prohibiting. Narrowing his eyes Yami peered down first at Kalie, then at Yugi as his brother wrapped his arms as best he could around his waist from the back.

"If I take someone with me, will you tell me what is bothering you tomorrow after school?" he demanded, glancing between the two of them. Receiving a nod he glanced at Bakura, his friend nodded knowingly and rising to his feet grabbed his jacket and shoes before vacating the house.

Pressing a chaste kiss to Kalie's and Yugi's brow, Yami smiled warmly at them before joining Bakura outside, moving as rapidly as he could towards the SUV, his clothing drenched before he was able to open the door. Clambering in he buckled his seat belt and nodded at Bakura, "Seems you got your wish, kind of."

Bakura smirked, flaring the engine and turning the heat on full blast, "Usually do Yami, usually do."

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Two hours later Yami clambered into bed, shivering from the cold and stiff from using muscles that had barely been functioning over the past few days. They still had the case, in his mind at the moment, that's all that mattered.

**A/N:** _hopefully in the next thirty days or so before I go on my cruise I can get another chappie of each fic done….no guarantees though, this writers block does not seem to want to go away on those other fics. I hope all of you can forgive me for that… I'm really sorry about this. (bows low) R and R please. _

Cold as the northern winds,  
in December mornings,  
cold is the cry that rings,  
from this far distant shore.

Winter has come too late,  
too close beside me.  
How can I chase away,  
all these tears deep inside

I'll wait, the signs to come.  
I'll find a way.  
I will wait, the time to come.  
I'll find a way home.

My light shall be the moon,  
And my path - the ocean.  
My guide the morning star  
As I sail home to you. 

I'll wait, the signs to come.  
I'll find a way.  
I will wait, the time to come.  
I'll find a way home.

Who then, can warm my soul?  
Who can quell my passion?  
out of these dreams - a boat,  
I will sail home to you.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author:** Yami Neferbre  
**Title: Crimson Trust**  
**Disclaimer**: I do not own Yugioh, or CSI Miami, or Waste by Staind, or No by Shakira  
**Paring**: SetoxYami  
**Rating**: R (just to be safe with the content)  
**Warning**: Violence, language, sexual content, rape  
**Spoilers**: None  
**Summary**: Yami has always been lied to, always been betrayed and hurt. Working as a special agent for the CSI crime lab in Miami he finds peace while raising his younger siblings. But an old enemy has returned, and a wonderful man just entered his life. Can he trust a stranger, or will he simply give up on life all together.  
Story idea came from the song _Waste _by _Staind_  
**Status: **7/32! (This is not definite, there is one chapter that I believe might become lengthy, or I might want to have more in it and it may become two chapters, I don't know yet, but this is a general number)

**A/N:** _Sorry that this took so long I tried to work on my other fics, all three of them, but it did not work, I got maybe three paragraphs done on each since my last update on this fic. I feel horrible for that T-T I really wanna keep those fics going. _

_Anyway, I hope that you guys can forgive me for the long wait, I ended up doing most of this fic at about one in the morning during the 30 Hour famine at my school, had an interesting sleep over at the school, lol. Hope you enjoy _

_**SEVEN**_

_Did daddy not love you?  
Or did he love you just too much?  
Did he control you?  
Did he live through you at your cost?  
Did he leave you no questions for you to answer on your own?_

"Yami," murmured a sweet feminine voice, breaking through his slumber and gently soothing him into alertness. "Yami wake up, Gabe's here to see you."

Moaning Yami forced his eyes open, glaring briefly up at Mai before yawning. He definitely did not get enough sleep; glancing at the clock he confirmed it, four hours just was not enough. Yawning, he lifted himself up into a sitting position, rubbing his eyes tiredly a he stared up at Mai, "Morning."

Chuckling, Mai sat down upon the edge of the bed, the mattress shifting as her weight was added. "Morning hun, I'll make some breakfast, go ahead and have a shower before you go see him. He can wait."

Grinning at her, he rose to his feet, steadying himself immediately by gripping the headboard of his bed as his back clenched in pain. Moaning, he closed his eyes, placing his hand over his lower back. "Could you get Bakura or Joey please?" he questioned, glancing back at her. "I think I might need some help getting into the tub now."

Nodding, Mai rose to her feet and moved to the doorway, peering back at him sympathetically before continuing on down the hall.

Hissing in pain, Yami dropped back down onto his bed, curling up into a ball with his hand still upon his throbbing back, "I shouldn't have gone yesterday," he moaned, regret clear in his tone. "Damn my fucking pride."

"I told you," snickered Bakura as he strode into the room, a wide triumphant smirk upon his face. "But of course, you wouldn't listen."

Glowering, Yami pointed a finger at him, shaking with fury. "Ra dammit Bakura, help me up," he snarled. "This is not a good time for your ridiculous victory dances."

"Oh but come on Yami they're fun," Bakura teased, flicking on the light and striking a ridiculous pose. "I could do a little twist this way, a little dip this way."

Growling deeply, Yami retrieved a nearby pillow and tossed it with all his vigor, ignoring the pain in his back as he smirked triumphantly, watching Bakura fall to the ground, the pillow hitting him squarely in the face. "Bastard, get over here and help me, or the next one will cause shrinkage to certain areas of your anatomy!"

"Alright alright, Mr. Grouchy," chuckled Bakura, dramatically rubbing his head as he rose to his feet, moving towards the bed. Leaning over Yami he smiled, placing a hand on either side of his friend's head. "I can still do a dance though."

"Ugh!" Yami cried out, free arm slamming playfully into Bakura's torso, trying hard not to laugh as Bakura stuck his tongue out at him. "Just help me up please."

"Only because you used such lovely manners," Bakura teased, hefting Yami to his feet carefully, and wrapping an arm around his waist.

"Yeah, and I taught you those manners," Yami grunted.

Shaking his head, Bakura slowly eased Yami towards the door, being mindful of the direction that his friend was swaying in, trying to keep him balanced. "Yeah I know, and I love yah every minute for it. Because otherwise no one would work for me."

"Half of your employees think you're a jackass Bakura, how do you think your inadequate manners help you along," Yami chuckled, stepping into the bathroom and leaning against the counter as Bakura moved to close the door.

"Nah, I think it's more my lovely facial expressions," Bakura joked, winking at his friend while turning on the water in the tub, testing the temperature with his fingers.

"Oh yes the 'shut up now before I kill you with a blunt blade' look. Real comforting Kura," he laughed, slowly easing his shirt over his head.

Smirking, Bakura moved away, satisfied that the water was the right temperature before closing the curtains and switching on the showerhead. As thick waves of steam began to rise Bakura leaned against the counter beside Yami, staring at the mirror while his friend continued to strip down to his boxers, noticing through the corner of his eyes how stiff and immobile Yami's back was.

"I'll give yah a backrub when Gabe leaves," he said, not leaving any room for protest from his friend. Gently patting Yami's shoulder he smiled at him. "I know that you're going to want to go back to work soon right?"

"I do," Yami answered, peering at Bakura with appreciation. "Thank you."

"Any time buddy, you know that," Bakura said, winking at him before vacating the room.

Yami stared at the door for a moment, his mind racing rapidly before he heaved a sigh. "I need a holiday," he murmured in self-confirmation. "A really long holiday." Shaking his head he moved to the shower, his movements almost robotic as he did so, pushing the curtains aside he stepped in, moaning loudly in bliss as the hot water immediately began to soothe his aching muscles.

Closing his eyes, he simply stood there, allowing the boiling water to cleanse his flesh and rid what little remained of a few days before. His muscles becoming lax and allowing the stiffness to flow from him, his body healing. Exhaling deeply, he hung his head, his blonde bangs clinging to his face like a frightened child to their mother. His arms dangled at his side, reminding him of a doll that used to hang in his mothers room, one that resembled her beauty perfectly.

Its perfect porcelain face had smiled at him whenever he entered that room, soft jade eyes peered at him, directed towards the door. An elegant white and turquoise gown adorned her, made of silk, linen, and lace. Black hair, as dark as the feathers upon a raven, was smooth and perfect, lying beyond her shoulders in thick waves. The only thing that was missing was the thick golden bangs, the eccentric ruby streak that broke through the ebony, and perfect tanned flesh.

He had adored that doll, and so had she. His grandmother, Lucila Hanata, had bought it for his mother on the day that he was born, a keepsake for them. He missed her and her warmth, and he cursed Lucien everyday for placing that restraining order upon her and separating her from him. He had only done it because she could see the truth.

Sighing, he lifted his head, eyes easing open as he allowed the water to pelt down upon his torso, reddening the skin even more than it already was. He missed Isolde, the mother that had been one of the few lights shining brightly in his life. A light that was now no longer there.

Rapidly finishing what he scrubbing his flesh and unruly hair, he stepped out and tried off. Wrapping the towel around his waist he moved in front of the mirror, rapidly writing down a name in the steam. He stared at it for a moment, letting the name sink in before he vacated.

ISOLDE

After dressing and running a brush through his hair, he moved downstairs, catching site of Gabe at the table, and Yugi and Kalie sitting on the couch. Scowling at that, he glanced at the clock, they should be heading out the door right now. Stepping of the stairs he glanced at them, "Don't the two of you have a bus to catch?" he said pointedly.

"Yami, could we stay home today?" Yugi questioned, uncertainty in his voice and something else that Yami could not quite pinpoint.

Briefly gripping Gabe's shoulder in greeting, Yami moved into the kitchen, the smell of bacon and eggs taking over his senses as Mai cooked the meal. Retrieving a glass from the cupboard, he glanced across the table at Joey, Bakura, and Gabe demandingly. "Why would you need to stay home, and both of you at once I might add?"

Shifting on the couch Kalie stared at him, watching as he poured milk carefully into his glass. "Were not feeling good," she said, trying to be convincing.

Narrowing his eyes, Yami sipped his drink before placing it upon the table and striding over to them. Kneeling down in front of Yugi carefully, wincing briefly as he did so, he reached up and tested Yugi's temperature with the back of his hand. Feeling no fever or anything along those lines, he stared at them incredulously. "Is there a specific reason why you would want to miss school?" he questioned, his voice stern. "And I do remember you promising me something."

Down casting her eyes Kalie reached out and wrapped an arm around Yugi's shoulders. "He's been corning us at the bus stop," she explained.

Stunned Yami reached out, lifting her head with his hand, peering in her eyes he spotted the fear shining brightly within them. "Lucien has been?" She nodded in confirmation, shuddering slightly.

Rising to his feet, Yami leaned against the fireplace, a hand over his mouth, and violet eyes closed. Heaving a shaky breath he snapped his eyes open, slight fury blazing in his eyes, "How long?"

"Pardon," Yugi questioned.

"How long!" Yami snapped, moving his hand away, placing it upon his hip. He inwardly winced at Yugi and Kalie retracted from his voice, cursing at himself for raising his voice.

"Since he attacked you," Kalie expounded, shifting uncomfortably upon the couch. "So five days."

Growling deeply, Yami moved away from the couch. "Why the hell didn't you tell me?"

"Because we were scared that you would react the wrong way and hurt yourself," Yugi stammered rising from the couch, sensing his brothers growing rage. "He hasn't been hurting us Yami, just asking for information."

"Information about what?" Yami snapped, rounding on the two. Gripping the counter he bit his lip, his temper was flaring, he could feel his blood pulsating through his body at a phenomenal pace, his heart pounding rapidly against his ribs.

"You," Kalie answered simply, hearing Yami growl again she backed away, wincing as Yami slammed his hand upon the counter, Joey moving to restrain him, pinning his hands to the counter from behind.

Shaking furiously, Yami hung his head, taking the hint and slowing his breathing, trying desperately to tame his temper. Feeling his heartbeat lessen to its regular pace he glanced back at Joey, smiling stiffly at him in thanks before averting his attention to his siblings. "I'm driving you from now on," he decided, seeing Yugi open his mouth in protest he snapped. "And that is final. Go get your stuff, we are leaving in five minutes. Am I clear?"

The two nodded furiously, moving to the stairs and dashing up them, unshed tears in their eyes. Heaving a shaky breath, Yami crossed his arms upon the counter and rested his head upon them, feeling Joey's hand rubbing his back soothingly he groaned out, "I shouldn't have yelled at them."

Gabe took a deep sip of his coffee, shifting so that he could face Yami properly from the table. "You did not do it on purpose Yami, don't berate yourself for it."

"That's not the point Gabe," Yami snapped, raising his head from the counter and staring furiously at his boss. "I raised my voice at them, and I never should, I'm not their parent."

"You practically have been Yami for the past… oh… six years," Bakura pointed out, crossing his legs under the table. "You may not be their parent Yami, but you have been one hell of a good big brother. They probably understand you raising your voice anyway buddy, your emotions have been up and down for the past two weeks."

Rounding upon him Yami snarled. "That still does not justify that," he snapped, violet eyes darkening in self-rage. "I don't have the right to do that."

"And Lucien did?" Bakura snapped, rising to his feet, moving so that he could grip Yami's face in his hand, holding it firmly as to make sure that his friend did not squirm away, ignoring the glare he was receiving from Joey. "Did he have the right to parent them, did he have the right to be a father to you? Did he deserve it, did he do a good job of raising the three of you?"

"Bakura let go," Joey warned, feeling the shuddering in the body that he was pinning. "We don't need him having another attack."

"Shut it Joey," Bakura snapped, chocolate eyes glaring at him warningly. "He needs to answer the question, and you damn well know he does."

Gripping the edge of the counter Yami stared up at Bakura, his breathing rugged, and his body trembling significantly. Inhaling sharply he shook his head, crocking out his answer.

"No."

Bakura lessened the intensity of his grip, caressing Yami's cheek gently, treating his young friend as if he was a brother. "So, who has more of the right to protect them, to watch them, and raise them in your mother's stead? Him, or you?" he questioned, his voice soft and tender.

"Me."

"Exactly," Bakura smiled, pulling back and beaming brightly at his friend. "Think of it that way Yami, you may not be their parent, you may only be an older brother, but you have done a hell of a lot better of a job at raising them properly then Lucien ever could. If you were not as caring as you are Yami, then they would have witnessed everything that he did to you. You protected them, and you guarded them. And I know with every fiber of my being that they are thankful for that, and raising your voice once to them will not make them despise you, or put you in the wrong. It just shows that you still care."

Reaching out Yami wrapped his arms tightly around Bakura's neck, latching on for support and to give his gratitude. "Thank you 'Kura," he murmured burring his head into his friend's broad shoulder.

"Anytime buddy," Bakura smiled. "Anytime."

The sound of two sets of feet pounding down the stairs gained the attention of all those within the room. Lifting his gaze, Bakura winked at Yugi and Kalie, silently assuring them that everything was fine. Averting his attention to Joey he mouthed out, 'can you drive them'. Joey nodded, chuckling before moving to grab the keys, waving good-bye to the others before shooing the two out of the house, closing the door behind him.

Yami suddenly groaned out, "I need a holiday."

The group burst out laughing, both at the randomness of the sentence, and at what had been said. Pulling back from Bakura, Yami leaned against the counter, grinning goofily, "So Gabe, you wanted to see me?" he asked, glancing at his boss.

Regaining his composure, Gabe coughed to clear his throat, gulping down a sip of coffee before fully turning to his friend. "I just wanted to check up on you really. You had a façade over your face and eyes all night last night. When do you think you will be well enough to start up your shifts again?" he questioned, leaning back in his chair.

Shrugging, Yami ran his digits through still damp ebony locks. "End the of the week probably, I'm gonna start trying to do some exercises today," he expounded.

"Ah, good, good," Gabe said with a smile, draining his coffee and rising to his feet. Smoothening his jacket Gabe briefly patted Yami on the shoulder before moving to the door. "I wont intrude upon your lovely breakfast, which by the way Mai smells wonderful."

"Thank you hun," she answered, smiling at him. "Are you sure that you don't want to stay for some? There's lots."

He chuckled, reaching for the door handle, "Nah, I better be heading off anyway, Elijah will be waiting to debrief me at the office. Good-bye, and see you soon."

"Thank you for coming by Gabe," Yami called out, shoving himself away from the counter. "It really means a lot to me."

Gabe winked again, "Your welcome, good-bye."

"Bye."

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Knocking tentatively upon the front door Seto, stepped back, fussing with his dress shirt and making sure that his pair of sleek khaki pants were unmarred and perfectly straight. He planned on being daring today, hoping that Yami was up to taking a walk, and hoping even more that he would not make a fool of himself.

Mai was there to open the door this time, grinning brightly at him before stepping aside, allowing him in. "Well, you'll be able to see him in action today Seto," She teased, closing the door and winking at him knowingly.

Chuckling Seto flung his hands into the air dramatically. "Am I truly that obvious," he asked, shaking his head.

She nodded, brushing her golden hair behind her ears, "Its quite obvious Seto," she teased, pointing towards one of the doors by the stairs. "He's in the weight room beating the shit out of that punching bag, at the rate that he has been going I'm wondering if he will be able to walk tomorrow."

Blinking Seto shook his head, quickly thanking her before moving to the said room, which before now he did not know that it existed. The sounds of grunts, the hallow sound of flesh pounding into leather, and the swift agile movement of feet quickly reached his ears. Quirking a brow, he gripped the door handle, skeptical momentarily whether he wanted to enter or not, before grunting and shoving the door aside, striding in confidently.

He was stunned, cerulean eyes widening in shock as he watched Yami kick, punch, and virtually beat the punching bag with all his might in naught but a pair of spandex shorts and a loose muscle shirt. The sight caused him to gulp, eyes gratefully taking in the view that was presented to him, before he directed his attention upon something else, forcing his mind out of the gutter.

Indeed, Yami's movements were choppy from pain and stiffness, but he was still more fluid and rapid in his moves than most people now a days could ever hope to be.

Now he fully understood why Yami was asked to protect him. He fought with a perfect combination of martial arts, an ancient form that he could not quite pinpoint, and the regular street combat. His speed and agility barely halted by his injures because of the obvious adrenaline rush that was surging through him.

As Seto watched him unnoticed for a few minutes, he could instantly decipher which two animals that Yami reminded him of, a black panther because of his obvious grace, stealth, and strength, and a cobra because of his deadly accuracy and pliancy.

Finally having enough of waiting on the sidelines Seto cleared his throat, chuckling as Yami snapped in his direction, fists -which were bound in thick tape- clenched and in the ready position. Once Yami realized that it was him he slackened, shoulders becoming lack, and his chest heaving from the effort that he had just placed into the workout, along with Seto's surprise.

Moving to lean against the wall beside the CEO Yami glanced up at him, smirking, "What?" he questioned knowingly.

"That was amazing," Seto commented, chuckling. "I might have just found my match in this city."

"Black belt?" Yami asked, reaching up to tentatively remove the tape from around his knuckles, his violet eyes grazing Seto's form up and down once in thought. Nodding in answer Seto quirked a brow inquiringly. "You seem to be more the type for fluid yet strong fighting styles; you do not have the stance nor the physique of a brute."

Smirking Seto crossed his arms, watching as Yami dumped the tape in a nearby garbage can before retrieving a towel and moving to wipe down the mats and punching bag.

"You are very skilled at reading people aren't you?" he said.

"Well I did take a two year psychology course, just finished six months ago. I have spent my entire life watching and observing people, learning what makes some tick, and how to break through their masks to see what type of people they really are, and also on how to break them," Yami expounded, tossing the towel aside once he was done and dusting off his knees. "I am, at the moment, one of the top interrogators in Florida. Does that explain anything?"

Nodding Seto glanced at him, heaving a deep breath, "It explains it all Yami."

Smirking, Yami tossed the towel off to the side, moving to the door he stretched his arms into the air with a groan. "I need comfort food," he chuckled.

Quirking a brow, Seto followed him out into the hallway, "You just sounded like my mother there," Seto commented, moving into the kitchen, accepting a glass of cool water from the young CSI. "I thought only girls needed comfort food."

Grunting, Yami dipped his fingertips into his water and flicked the droplets at the CEO playfully, "Not necessarily, if I have a bad day at work or a bad experience, I come home and eat what every type of sugar I can find in the house. Its impulse almost, everyone does it, women just verbally say it, men not so much."

"I do not resort to comfort food," Seto grumbled, gulping down the rest of his water before crossing his arms over his torso.

"Really?" Yami retorted, smirking devilishly. "So you don't go home and eat the cookies or cake that Victor constantly has out."

Blushing deeply, Seto snorted. _How the hell did he know that_, he wondered. "No," he answered stiffly.

Laughing, Yami strode around him, mounting the stairs, "You can't lie about that Seto, and I caught you every single time. I was your body guard for just over a week, remember, I had to watch you just about everywhere you went during the night."

"Everywhere?" Seto inquired, stopping as he took the first step up the stairs.

Rolling his eyes Yami rounded on him. "I'm not perverted Seto," he said pointedly. "Now why don't you wait in the upstairs living room while I quickly go have a shower, I don't want you to have to deal with my stench and stiffness for the rest of the time that you are here."

"Alright," Seto said, taking a seat upon one of the couches as they reached the top. "I have an idea for something to do when you're done."

Yami looked at him questioningly, stopping at the edge of the hallway, "What do you have in mind?"

"I'll tell you when you're done," he assured, swishing his hand, signaling for Yami to go shower. The young man scowled at him slightly in suspicion before sighing and moving into the bathroom, the sound of the water running and the door closing reaching Seto's ears seconds later.

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"Ice cream?" Yami asked incredulously, furiously drying his hair with a towel while reaching up instantly and pressing his hand over Seto's brow feeling for a temperature.

The CEO frowned, catching on swiftly to what Yami was implying. Taking the wrist into his hand and glaring slightly at the younger man, Yami shrugged innocently, moving to place the towel on his desk and pulling on a t-shirt.

"Just checking to make sure that you're feeling alright," Yami defended, glancing over at Seto, catching the glare that he was still receiving. "I never thought of you as the type of person that would want to go out and get ice cream."

Grunting, Seto moved towards the stairs, "I am normal you know."

"Oh yeah, your just a workaholic who is addicted to technology and glaring at people," Yami chuckled, rapidly following, adjusting his red tee-shirt as he went.

"Heh, at least I don't look at dead bodies all day long," Seto shot back, reaching the door and pulling on his shoes, grunting as Yami playfully hit his back, setting him off balance and forcing him to sit down.

"Like Abby says, they at least will never lie to you," Yami stated, slipping into a pair of sandals. Shoving the closet open he retrieved his keys and wallet from one of his jackets, closing it he turned to Seto. "Are we walking or driving?"

"Walking," Seto answered, rising to his feet and opening the door. "I take Mokuba to a place near here when ever he asks. I'll show you the way."

Blinking, Yami pulled his sunglasses out of the pocket of his shorts, shoving them over his eyes to protect them from the light that had suddenly invaded his vision, "Alright."

Locking the door behind him and saying a quick good-bye to Mai, Yami followed Seto down the street, avoiding the young children that frolicked along on their bikes, the eccentric few chasing each other frantically with water guns. He watched this absently, barely noticing Seto as the CEO led him through the streets towards the beach nearby, if he had been paying attention he would have realized that it would be a near half hour walk to reach their destination.

Seto noticed the faraway appearance in Yami's eyes; gently he reached out and took a firm but tender grip of the young man's hand, making sure that he would not absently wander away. Yami jumped at the feeling of Seto's hand slithering to join with his own, he glanced down at it briefly, surprise when his mind and body did not refuse the contact. Raising his eyes to Seto, he caught the young man's reassuring smile, returning the gesture he dropped his eyes back to the ground, relishing in the warmth and security of the other's touch.

The sun above was burning, caressing their flesh with its blazing heat as they walked, crossing the overpass, which allowed them to avoid the traffic of the main road, and step onto the soft white sand of the beach. Removing his sandals Yami held them in his hand, inhaling the salty scent of the ocean air with a deep leisure breath.

Seto did the same, removing his shoes and tightening his grip upon Yami's hand as they moved across the beach, avoiding the few people that were there enjoying the gorgeous heat and clear waters.

Shifting his sunglasses until they were pulled up onto the top of his head, securing his bangs back out of his face and allowing them to tangle and tickle his ears. The lively Latin music of a nearby stereo filled his ears. Instantly recognizing the song as _La Tortura _by Shakira and Alejandro he softly sang along to it, catching the shocked expression upon Seto's face as he kept pace easily with its fast beat.

Once the song was finished he turned his gaze to Seto, "What?" he questioned innocently.

Shaking his head Seto regained him composure, wondering how many more surprises he could receive from this man beside him, "I did not know that you could speak Spanish, or do you just know the song?"

Chuckling Yami kicked up a small amount of sand with his feet, eyes absently watching the small particles fall back to the ground before answering the question. "It's in my ethnic background; my mother taught me how to speak in several languages."

"What others do you know?" Seto asked incredulously, cerulean eyes peering down at Yami.

"Aside from English, I know Spanish, Japanese, Arabic, and a fair amount of Ancient Egyptian, the last two are a little rusty though, I have not been able to speak them for a while," Yami expounded.

"How long?"

Yami lifted his eyes, amethyst orbs locking upon the ocean beyond Seto. "Since she passed away, nearly six years ago."

"Oh," Seto murmured, catching the small glint of pain radiating in Yami's eyes. Giving his hand a comforting squeeze, forcing those eyes to turn to him as they scintillated brightly in the sunlight. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Yami murmured, smiling softly. "I rarely remember the horrendous things that the two of us went through at the end; I only remember the bliss that transpired before hand."

"Will you tell me the full story one day?" Seto questioned as they stepped onto a slab of pavement, the concession stand nearby.

Yami nodded, his smile broadening in the sunlight, face luculent from the golden rays. "One day."

Buying their ice cream the two of them began to make their way back home, their hands separated because of the need to carry their shoes and hold their rapidly melting treat.

As they reached the overpass and were able to put their shoes back on Yami noticed Seto's current predicament and laughed loudly. The CEO's face was lathered in the thick vanilla ice cream that he had picked, as where his hands as he glared at the cone with fervor.

"How long has it been since you had an actual ice cream cone?" Yami demanded after regaining his composure, leaning against the guardrail on the overpass.

"I usually have in it a bloody bowl," Seto snapped, eyes lifting as Yami shoved a napkin towards him. Taking it he enthusiastically tried to wipe away the mess that was now him, ignoring Yami's giggling beside him. Grumbling angrily at the substance he tossed a now soaking went napkin into a nearby garbage can, turning to Yami and scowling. "Is it all gone?"

Violet eyes skimmed him over, checking his face and hands thoroughly before shaking his head, "You missed a little bit on your cheek. Here, let me get it so that you do not make even more of a mess."

Seto barely had time to react before Yami moved up onto his tiptoes, a soft slender digit reaching up to gently swipe away the small smear of ice cream. The touch lasted for mere seconds, but the reaction left Seto completely numb, his body shuddering from pleasure at the simplistic caress, his eyes closing from bliss.

Yami, completely oblivious to the reaction that he had created, subtly licked the ice cream from his fingertips, not noticing that Seto and re-opened his eyes and was now holding back another shudder. Returning to his own ice cream Yami continued on his way across the over pass, gnawing at what remained of his cone.

Realizing that Seto was not following Yami snapped him back into reality by gripping his hand and tugging him along. Regaining his balance Seto stared at Yami incredulously for a moment before concentrating on his ice cream, desperately trying to finish it before it melted again. Though, his mind was telling him that if Yami did that again, then it would not be such a bad thing.

Shoving that thought aside, Seto directed his gaze forward, striking up a random conversation that clearly had Yami confused for a moment before the younger man responded to him, engaging in the simplistic chit chat with him.

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A/N: Hey People, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, I certainly enjoyed writing it….hehehe especially the scene with the ice cream, my friend that I was sending it to apparently was laughing so hard that his co-workers came to read what I had, lol, . Anyway, review please feed back is greatly appreciated.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author:** Yami Neferbre  
**Title: Crimson Trust**  
**Disclaimer**: I do not own Yugioh, or CSI Miami, or Waste by Staind, or No by Shakira  
**Paring**: SetoxYami  
**Rating**: R (just to be safe with the content)  
**Warning**: Violence, language, sexual content, rape  
**Spoilers**: None  
**Summary**: Yami has always been lied to, always been betrayed and hurt. Working as a special agent for the CSI crime lab in Miami he finds peace while raising his younger siblings. But an old enemy has returned, and a wonderful man just entered his life. Can he trust a stranger, or will he simply give up on life all together.  
Story idea came from the song _Waste _by _Staind_  
**Status: **8/32! (This is not definite, there is one chapter that I believe might become lengthy, or I might want to have more in it and it may become two chapters, I don't know yet, but this is a general number)

**A/N:** _Hello everyone, sorry about the long update, as some of you know I was on a cruise last week, hope you enjoy _

_**Eight**  
_

_Well fuck them and fuck her and fuck him and fuck you  
For not having the heart to pull through  
I've had doubts I have failed I've fucked up I've had plans  
Doesn't mean I should take my life with my own hands_

Every morning for the next few days Yami would wake up, groggily make his way around the house, cook breakfast, take Yugi and Kalie to school, then move on to cleaning the house and working out as much as he could. These were his distractions at the moment, keeping his mind from wandering to unwanted images. Otherwise, when Bakura would come home just after lunch, the young man usually insisted on either taking a light swim in their pool, or a long walk to the beach. Usually, though, Seto ended up tagging along.

Once or twice Seto had joined him in viciously beating his punching bag and working on the weights, but the CEO usually ended up simply watching, playing music through his laptop as he rapidly finished off a few things from work. More than once Yami had caught him openly staring, but he usually ended up shoving the hopes in his mind away, the CEO was probably gazing at the many thin and light scars that littered his back and torso.

Before dinner Yami ended up taking Yugi to his soccer practices, or Kalie to her dance, or both of them to their piano lessons. In the process he would normally drop Seto off at home with Mokuba, the more distractions he could find the better.

Three attacks in one week were enough for him, and having one more would postpone him returning to work for yet another week, something that he did not want. He desperately needed some sort of release, beating on the punching bag, taking those walks, singing and playing the piano, and conversing with Seto was no longer helping him.

His mind was constantly returning to what had happened seven days previous in his office, or instances that had happened years before when all of this had started. He usually found himself locked within his room, or soaking in a deep bath with candles surrounding him, tears of frustration and fear coursing down his face, his body trembling in an attempt to keep his emotions in check. He did not want to be seen like this, broken with his heart in the open.

Heaving a sigh he rubbed his eyes furiously, yawning as he did so, stretching his arms high in the air as he made his way through the kitchen, not quite willing to be awake yet. Moaning he clenched his eyes shut as Joey clumsily dropped a fork to the tile floor, the sound echoing in his head, increasing the headache that was already beginning to overwhelm him.

Covering his face with his hands he leaned against the counter, "I am slowly going insane," he muttered, eyes opening as gentle hands removed his own from his face. Finding himself staring at the smiling face of his sister he groaned, leaning forward and resting his head against her shoulder. "I cannot wait until I go back to work tomorrow."

Gently, Kalie stroked her brother's back, soothing him and trying to lessen his pain. "Didn't sleep last night I take it," she stated knowingly, exchanging worried glances with Mai, Bakura, and Joey.

Shaking his head Yami wrapped his arms loosely around her waist, shifting his head so that he could partially stare up at her. "Maybe an hour, that's pushing it."

"Nightmares," she pressed.

"Yes," he murmured, reluctantly releasing that information.

"Why didn't you come to Yugi or I, we always come to you when we have one," she questioned, peering down at him softly.

Biting his lip Yami closed his eyes, tightening his hold around her waist, "I was too afraid to move," he chocked out, cursing at his weakness.

Heaving a sigh Kalie gently eased Yami towards the table, never relinquishing her hold on him as she forced him to sit down, kneeling so that they could remain in their embrace. "Are you sure that you should be going back to work Yami, you seem to be getting worse, not better."

"Agreed," chimed Bakura, gulping down his coffee, eyeing Yami carefully.

Tanned hands clenched tightly into fists on either side of Kalie's hips, the knuckles turning white instantly from the pressure. "I need some sort of release Bakura, nothing else seems to be working at the moment," Yami growled out.

"Calm down," Mai urged, rising to her feet and moving to kneel down beside Kalie, reaching out and gently squeezing her friend's knee. "Take it easy buddy, maybe you should just go back to bed and rest for a while, let Joey take care of you today."

Footsteps reached their ears, directing everyone's attention but Yami's towards the stairs, Yugi glanced at all of them inquiringly, blinking rapidly, "What's going on," he asked cautiously.

"Nothing," Yami muttered, pulling away from Kalie and smiling at his brother. "Finish getting ready, we have to get going or you're going to be late for school."

Violet eyes narrowed knowingly, "What's wrong Yami," he demanded.

"Emotional roller coasters," Yami stated simply, rising to his feet and moving to the kitchen again. Pouring himself a cup of coffee he moved to sit down at the table, immediately –who was sitting beside him- gripped his shoulder. Glancing up at him Yami crocked a brow. "What?"

"I'll drive them this morning," he insisted, ignoring the furious glare that was now radiating from his friend. "You need to rest; besides I have the day off. You can pick them up after school, sound good."

Grunting Yami sat back in his chair, forcing Joey to relinquish his grip upon his shoulder, "Whatever," he growled, his temper flaring.

Shaking his head Joey rose to his feet, gently embracing his friend, holding him until Yami slackened into his grip but did not return to action. "Just remember Yami, I do this because I care, not because I think you are weak." A rough grunt was his answer; reluctantly pulling away Joey moved to grab the car keys, ushering Yugi and Kalie out the front door.

Peering back Joey exchanged worried glances with Bakura and Mai before he vacated, closing the door as we went.

Instantly Bakura and Mai finished eating their breakfast, cleaning up their dishes and moving to leave for work. Both received the same cold treatment from Yami as they embraced him tightly, assuring him that everything was going to fine, before leaving for work, locking the door behind them.

Within seconds Yami was upon the floor, limbs wrapped tightly in an insecure ball, violet eyes overflowing with fresh tears. His body trembling with his sobs as he curled into himself, Sacha immediately moving to curl up next to him, his wines echoing through the house, his worry for his master evident. Whimpering Yami reached out to his dog, stroking its head affectionately as his tears continued to fall. "What is wrong with me," he murmured aloud.

Fear began to overwhelm him, being alone in this dark cold house was beginning to take its toll, the rain outside mingled with the roaring of the thunder and flashing of the lightning was not helping his nerves. Scrambling for the phone he dialled the first number that came to his head, sobbing as he pleaded for the person to pick up.

"Hello, Seto Kaiba speaking."

"Seto," Yami nearly cried out, his relief at hearing that soothing voice calming him slightly. "Thank God you're home."

Hearing the panic in Yami's voice Seto questioned rapidly, "Are you alright, where is Joey, Bakura, and Mai?"

"Joey went to drop off Yugi and Kalie at school," Yami expounded, his voice laced with sobs. "Bakura and Mai went to work. I… I'm scared Seto."

"I'll be right over, can you wait five minutes," the brunette asked.

"I… I think so," Yami stammered, furiously rubbing the tears from his face, moaning as more joined their place. "Please get here quick, I don't know why I am acting like this, but I'm really scared."

"I'll be right there Yami," Seto promised rapidly before hanging up the phone, leaving Yami again in utter silence, the only noise surrounding him was the storm outside.

Images began to flash through his mind, images that he wished would burn and never invade him again. Whimpering he curled into himself again, pressing himself into the couch before the flickering fireplace, holding himself and sobbing for comfort, barely feeling Sacha's warm form beside him.

"_YAMI WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!" bellowed a voice from the hallway. Whimpering he pulled the blanket tighter over his near naked form, frightened tears coming to his eyes as his feet slid outwards in the blood that was still flowing from his form. Shivering he glanced briefly at the camera across from him, silently begging whoever was watching to call the police. _

_He had been imprisoned within his own home for the last week, forced to hide in this small, stuffy, secret room within the walls of the second story of his home. Freezing cold and bleeding from several open wounds, having not eaten in well over seven days he was weak and pale, barely able to move in the small dark crawl space. _

"_YAMI!" _

_A resounding crash followed the yell, the door to his small hide away being thrust open, light briefly blinding him before a tall, dark form invaded the small crawl space, casting a shadow over him. Screaming he backed away from the man before him, shuddering in fear as he locked gazes with Lucien whom was fuming with fury. _

"_Thought that you could hide from me forever, huh, brat," Lucien growled, reaching out a snagging him roughly by the arms, wrenching him to his feet and boldly throwing him out of the crawl space and onto the floor of the hallway. _

_A pained cry left his lips, throat screaming at him from the abuse, as he landed roughly upon his already limp wrist. His tears began to course down his ghostly pale cheeks in rivers as Lucien flipped him over, vehemently lifting him to his feet by the collar of his tee-shirt, before slamming him against the wall. _

"_Lucien, please don't," he pleaded, peering up into burning russet eyes. "Let go of me!" _

"_Forget it," Lucien spat, roughly tossing him towards the stairs as if he was naught but a rag doll. His father chuckled in pleasure at hearing his pained gasp, and the cracking of broken bones ring in the air loudly, watching him writhe upon the floor in agony as old wounds were crushed. _

_Rolling to his side he faced his father, trembling with fear as the man hefted him to his feet again, holding him by the throat with one hand, while the other wrapped tightly around his waist. "I will take pleasure in tormenting you, before I do as I promised." _

_Violet eyes widened in shock as he was shoved backwards towards the stairs, a boisterous scream ripping from him as he made the first impact, bones breaking before he continued in his decent. Finally resting upon the hardwood at the bottom of the stairs, shuddering in pain as his eyes spotted the deformity of his left leg, only for those same orbs to lift and watch in fear as Lucien began to descend the stairs, moving to wards him to finish his work. _

"Yami!" cried a deep voice through the fog, worry and desperation obvious in their tone. "Yami snap out of this! Don't do this, don't let him win."

Someone was shaking him; widespread hands gripping his arms, caressing his face, fervently trying to force him into alertness. Gasping, realizing that no oxygen was entering his system he snapped his eyes open. Immediately spotting Seto holding him tightly he gripped the man's shirt, burying his head within his torso, desperately trying to bring air into his lungs.

"Gods Yami, you scared the shit out of me," Seto exclaimed, holding Yami tightly to him, rocking back and forth while rubbing the mans back in soothing motions. "Its alright, I'm here and I'm not leaving, I promise."

His vision was spinning, causing his stomach to turn in protest, forcing him to struggle away from the CEO's comfort and allow his breakfast to leave his system, gagging at the fowl taste that the action brought him.

Immediately Seto pulled him back to him, soothing him with gentle caresses as he felt his body calming, the shuddering leaving him and his vision slowly returning to normal. Moaning he wrapped his arms around Seto's neck, holding tightly, "Thank you," he murmured.

"You're welcome," Seto whispered.

"Don't let go," Yami pleaded, tightening his grip around the CEO. "I don't want to be alone."

Sighing deeply Seto rose to his feet, lifting Yami as he went and moving to sit upon the couching, allowing Yami to lie in his lap. Grabbing a nearby blanket he wrapped it around the smaller male, circling his arms around him and soothing him, gently rocking him into a soft slumber. Watching silently as frightened violet eyes drifted shut in sleep, the young man's torso finding a steady rhythm as his breathing returned to normalcy.

Resting his head against Yami's brow, Seto stared at the window beside the front door, waiting patiently for Joey to return from dropping Yugi and Kalie off.

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"He's still sleeping," Joey whispered as he came back down the stairs, peering at Seto across the house. Moving towards the CEO he clapped a hand across his shoulder. "Thank you for coming to help him, I shouldn't have left him, I knew that he was in rough shape."

Seto smiled kindly at him, handing him a hot cup of tea, "Anything for a friend," he murmured.

Chuckling Joey winked at him before sipping his tea, "Hopefully he sleeps for a couple of hours, he needs it, he said that he was starting nightshifts again at your place tomorrow. I can't stop him, even if I think that he's still too unstable."

Grunting Seto shook his head, closing his eyes as he took a long gulp of his tea, "He is pretty damn stubborn."

Joey nodded in agreement, "He gets it from Isolde, except he's worse in that area."

"Oh."

"Well," Joey started, placing his cup upon the counter. "If you want you can go to work now and come on by this evening. Its Friday night, we all usually watch a movie together. You and Mokuba could join us if you want to."

Seto smiled, rising to his feet and moving towards the door, retrieving his jacket as he went, "Sounds like plan Joey, thank you for the offer, I'll suggest it to Mokuba. I will see you later then."

Nodding Joey waved briefly at him, smiling brightly. The CEO returned the gesture as he closed the door behind him, instantly afterward Joey locked it, heaving a sigh and glancing towards the stairs. "How many times am I going to fail you buddy, I did that day that your mother died, and when that bastard attacked you when you were eighteen and last week. Along with the many other times that I was too late to stop you from being hurt. How many times am I going to do this?"

Heaving a sigh he sat down upon the couch, wrapping the blanket tightly around him before he switched on the TV, keeping the volume low so that he could hear if Yami was in distress. The questions that he had asked continued to play in his mind, blinding him and blocking the images from the TV before they reached him.

"How many times buddy?"

Hours passed in silence. The storm outside passing and leaving a beautiful hot summer day to flood over Miami, increasing the temperature within the house, along with the level of silence.

Joey continued to watch TV, only removing himself to check upon his sleeping friend and to fetch something to eat. He was thankful that Yami was sleeping a decent amount of time finally, it brought relief to his heart knowing that at least something good was going to transpire during the day.

When two o'clock swung around movement could finally be heard upstairs. Scrambling off of the couch Joey dashed to the bottom of the stairs, intent on reaching his friend only for Yami to appear at the top of the stairs, somnolent and swathed tightly in a housecoat. Relief flooded through him, a soft smile gracing his features as he moved up the stairs to Yami, reaching out a hand to him.

Swaying upon his feet Yami gripped his extended hand, taking it and moving down one step, holding the railing for support. Together they moved slowly down the stairs, silence passing between them, neither wanting to speak. Leading Yami to the kitchen table, Joey sat him down and knelt down before him, gripping his hands in his and staring up into exhausted violet orbs.

"I'm sorry about this morning Yami," Joey murmured, watching as Yami's quirked a brow at him inquiringly. "I should never have left you, I should have made Bakura take them to school, I left you just when you needed me the most."

Yami exhaled deeply, pulling one his hands from Joey's grasp and wrapping that single arm around his friends neck. "I could never blame you Joey, you have been there for me all my life, you're the best friend anyone could ever ask for. And when I say that Joey, I mean it."

"I haven't always been there Yami," Joey said, embracing his friend. "I came too late a few times to protect you."

"And I wont hold you to that Joey," Yami stated, pulling back and staring into Joey's tender hazel eyes, running his finger gently along his friends jaw line. "I know that you tried, and to me, that's all that matters. We cannot control these things Joey, and you know that there are times that I am going to be left alone to protect myself. That's how things have always been, always."

"It shouldn't be that way," Joey growled, taking the hand that was caressing his face, holding it to his torso. "You should not have to bear the pain that you do."

Yami sighed, closing his eyes and bowing his head, "Please, lets not talk about this; I don't want to think about him."

Nodding Joey rose to his feet, "Alright," he murmured. "Are you hungry?"

"Starving," Yami chuckled. "We need to go grocery shopping tonight before we rent the movie. There is nothing left in that cupboard, or in the fridge."

Pulling out a box from the panty Joey showed it to Yami, "There's KD," he said, forcing Yami to laugh blissfully. "That has to count for something."

"In your mind maybe," Yami said, shaking his head.

Shrugging indifferently Joey began to rummage around for the pot, finding it he placed it upon the stove, filling it with water, then turning the stove on to high heat. "Yugi and Kalie get off at three right?"

"Yes," Yami answered, scratching a hand through his hair. "I'll go pick them up, I need to get off my ass sometime today and do something productive."

Joey chuckled, glancing at Yami over his shoulder while pouring the noodles into the water. "Just don't hurt you little ass, I'm sure that Seto would not appreciate it."

Crocking a brow Yami glared at his friend, "And what the hell is that supposed to mean."

"It means that I think someone likes you," Joey teased.

Crimson flooded Yami's cheeks, giving away his thoughts even as he glared and viciously tossed one of the chair cushions at his friend. "Oh shut up!"

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Closing the car door behind him, Yami slipped his sunglasses over his eyes and adjusted his shirt, heaving a sigh he strode towards the school. The sounds of children and teenagers speaking gaily to each other filled his ears, mingling with the singing of the birds over head. He smiled softly at this, jumping up onto the curb of the sidewalk, sandaled feet immediately becoming damp from the moisture in the grass from the rain earlier.

Scowling at this he shook his head and, weaving through the throng of teenagers and young children, made his way towards a familiar group at the school entrance.

Reaching out he gently tapped upon his brother's shoulder, smiling in amusement as Yugi swung around in surprise, his friend's laughter ringing in the air.

Innocent amethyst eyes narrowed playfully at him as the owner punched him lightly in the arm, "You scared the crap out of me," he laughed.

Ruffling Yugi's hair Yami chuckled, reaching down and retrieving his brothers backpack before slinging it over his shoulder, "I'm allowed to, its in the contract, read the fine lines," he stated, tapping his temple.

"That ain't fair Yami," Yugi protested, waving a curt good-bye to his friends and skipping to catch up to his brother as he moved towards the basketball court nearby. "I can't read your mind."

Winking at him Yami absently waved at Kalie's friends once realizing that they were doing the same to gain his attention. "Well then, I guess you better learn how," he teased, averting his attention to Kalie as she moved towards him, wrapping an arm around his waist. "Ready to go?"

"Yep," Kalie answered with a smile.

"Hey Kalie," called Mark, a rather attractive young man from within her circle of friends. Turning Kalie smiled at him, inclining her head in acknowledgement. He moved up beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Do you think I could hitch a ride, my Dad just called and said that he could not pick me up because of how bad traffic was?"

Glancing up at Yami, azure eyes shimmering in a pleading nature, reminding her brother greatly of a kitten begging for milk. Unable to resist Yami nodded, having known the boy for quite sometime and trusting him greatly, "Sure, you live near us right."

Mark nodded, smiling brightly, "Thank you Mr. Hanata," he said.

Shaking his head Yami signalled for him to follow, "I'm not that old," he chuckled. "Just call me Yami, everyone else does."

"Alright."

Lifting his gaze Yami scanned the area around them as he shoved the key into the vehicle, just as he turned it to unlock the vehicle he spotted a group of unwanted visitors stalking towards him. Hissing he shoved the door open, watching the menacing group as they moved towards him like leopards on the prowl, "Get in you three, and lock the doors," he snapped.

"Yami, what's wrong?" Yugi questioned as his brother urged him into the vehicle.

Violet eyes flashed in fury, "I have to quickly deal with a group of unwanted guests, Mark go get the rest of your friends and bring them over here." Without question Mark nodded and dashed over to his friends, gaining their attention and watching with a frightened expression as Yami moved towards the group, instantly recognizing them by the dark blue bandana's, and the trident tattoos upon their arms.

"Propios del Diablo," he muttered. "Santo."

Gripping the cool metal of his pistol at its holster against his hip, Yami snarled deeply, moving towards Santo and his men with an air of confidence and fury. Instantly he was surrounded, the men threatening and malicious, each glaring at him in abhorrence. Ignoring the expressions he directed his attention towards Santo, violet eyes running up his form, re-burning it back into his memory.

Instantly in the school grounds children were ushered into the school by teachers, or vehicles by their parents. Teenagers raced away, either running into the school or frantically making a break for the nearest home. All knowing exactly who it was that has surrounded the well known CSI, and all knowing that remaining could put them in the line of fire if this turned into a brawl.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Yami hissed, baring his teeth and tightening his grip upon his weapon. Shifting slightly as the seven men around him closed off the circle, leaving him barely any room to move.

Santo smiled devilishly, chuckling heartily as he did so, shaking his head slowly as Yami snarled at him. "I think that you should know why, Yami," he said, voice heavily laced with a Spanish accent. His sleek dark hair and professional clothing masking what he truly did for a living.

"Well it certainly is not for old time sake," Yami snapped, removing his pistol from its holster and flashing it in the sunlight so that those around him knew of its presence.

Smirking Santo peered briefly at the pistol indifferently before locking gazes with Yami, "No, that is most definitely not the reason. No, the reason would to give you a warning."

"Oh," Yami chuckled sarcastically, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. "It's good to know that you care about my well being."

Grunting Santo moved forward, standing directly in front of the CSI, towering over him in an attempt to intimidate the young man. "Your sarcasm is still just as amusing as it was a few months ago," he stated. "But it will not get you anywhere. If I remember right, the only place it got you with Lucien was a hard beating."

Yami stiffened at the mention of Lucien's name, suppressing the urge break away he snarled, "That was then, asshole, this is now."

Growling Santo reached out, gripping Yami's shoulder and wrenching him forward, shoving the barrel of a pistol against the young mans gut, smirking as one of his men disarmed his victim. Leaning down he whispered into Yami's ear, "Well here's a message from him, cross him again, pull a stunt like you did, and he will not hesitate to rip the life out of one of your friend's torsos."

"Bastard," Yami hissed, trusting Santo's hand away from him, not caring about the pistol. "Is he too spineless to tell me this himself, or does he need the pusillanimous approach from behind to feel powerful."

Santo chuckled deeply, the sound sending a shiver up Yami's spine, "I can assure you that at the moment he is indisposed with a business matter, he would have loved to tell you that himself, believe me. But, no matter, here is my message," he stated, leaning forward again and peering deeply into Yami's dark eyes. "Drop this case, or remove yourself from it."

"No," Yami snapped, only to hiss seconds later as a fist from one of the men behind him slammed into his back.

"Drop it, Yami, or you may find that your friends and siblings are no longer among the living," Santo hissed angrily, signalling for his men to leave. Smirking he waved his pistol in warning before he moved away with his men, leaving Yami holding his back in the middle of the road, his pistol laying inches away upon the pavement.

Inhaling sharply Yami dropped down to one knee, hissing at the pain in his back where a new bruise was now forming over the old one, reaching out absently to retrieve his pistol and shove it back into its holster. Clenching his fists he lifted his gaze, watching as the group of men, along with Santo, clambered into three nearby black lancers before speeding off down the street.

"Bastards," he snarled.

**A/N: **_Sorry about the lateness again, and how short this chapter is, but I really needed to update something and Past to be forgotten just is not going anywhere, don't ask me why, but it isn't, neither is Living Dead as most can notice. I may be forced to stop Living Dead and hand it over to someone else and tell them what is supposed to happen. I don't know yet. Anyway, thanks for waiting so long for this, I hope that it was worth it. R and R please, and thanks for all the reviews for last chappie _


	9. Chapter 9

**Start Author:** Yami Neferbre  
**Title: Crimson Trust**  
**Disclaimer**: I do not own Yugioh, or CSI Miami, or Waste by Staind  
**Paring**: SetoxYami  
**Rating**: R (just to be safe with the content)  
**Warning**: Violence, language, sexual content, rape, character death  
**Spoilers**: None  
**Summary**: Yami has always been lied to, always been betrayed and hurt. Working as a special agent for the CSI crime lab in Miami he finds peace while raising his younger siblings. But an old enemy has returned, and a wonderful man just entered his life. Can he trust a stranger, or will he simply give up on life all together.  
Story idea came from the song _Waste _by _Staind_  
**Status: **9/32ish lol

**A/N:** _Its bloody exam week lol, been a lil busy, and I will be for the next week, I work every day next week, along with doing my exams . I will try my hardest to write and update, I'll take advantage of the few days that I have off and write. Otherwise, I am studying and working……working a lot, lol, 27-30 hours a week, and me a part timer _

_Oh…and I jus did the addition of the pages on my comp for this ficcie….93 freakin pages long lol, and its in size ten font…edges extended out, lol. Wow…this fic is really long huh, lol, me likie…gunna keep going. Enjoy please. _

_**NINE**  
_

_But these words  
They don't replace the life you waste  
_

"_Taita… I have a predicament on my hands…I don't know if I'll be able to continue the case." _

"_What! Did I just hear you right…Yami, you can't, we need you buddy!"_

"_I need my family more Taita…and I don't know how I am going to work on the case without being spotted by unwanted eyes. Unless, I do everything from home... but even that's not safe." _

"_What do you mean by 'your family'? Yami, they're safe. Lucien is not stupid enough to attack you in your own house. He does not have the guts to face Bakura and Joey…" _

"_I am not implying that bastard… I am talking about Santo… I am talking about a man that would be willing to stalk me, that would be willing to attack me in my own home when it is filled with people." _

"_Did he say something to you? When did he come near you… you should have said something." _

"_It was yesterday, after I picked up Yugi and Kalie. He threatened my family… they are all I have left Taita… I can't risk their lives for this damned case. Besides…now that he's back… I don't think that my mind can handle the stress of this particular case. I need a distraction, yes, but not this case, its too dangerous." _

"_We'll protect you Yami, you and the others… we need you on this case buddy." _

"_I'll tell you my decision tomorrow at my debriefing. I need to get ready for work… I'll see you when I get there…alright?" _

"_Okay… be careful." Instantly the phone was replaced on the receiver, dark violet eyes dropping to the floor, utter worry shining brilliantly within them like a beacon to the angels above. _

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_Inner Universe_ pulsated loudly through the speakers of the SUV as he drove towards the Kaiba manor a few minutes away. The beat vibrated the vehicle from the intensity of the volume, nearly drowning him in the rhythmic beats and soft singing that blended together perfectly.

Violet eyes were focused solely upon the road ahead of him through the darkness of the night, the black blanket cloaking the world around him, while thick clouds blocked the moons sliver glow from casting its comforting light upon the city of Miami.

Sighing deeply, he pressed lightly on the breaks, coming to a stop at an intersection, eyes barely watching the light finally switch to red. Blinking, he glanced out the window, the deep waters of the ocean swinging into view as he moved towards the immense manors along Miami Beach. Grunting, he averted his gaze as the light flashed green, pressing the gas he moved along with traffic, absentmindedly watching where he was going, and turning when he needed to.

Rounding a corner, the manor finally swung into view, the beautiful design standing out amongst the others, the splendor of it simply forcing the others to draw back and hide behind the trees. Pulling up in front of it, he retrieved the items that he would need for the night and move to vacate the vehicle, thick windbreaker protecting him from the night's chill.

Shuddering, he moved up to the house, instantly knocking on the door and stepping back, waiting for Victor to come and allow him in. He did not have to wait long; the butler pulled the door open, the scowl upon his face instantly diminishing into a gleeful smile as he pulled the young CSI into a warm embrace.

"We missed you greatly, Sir," he exclaimed, beaming brightly as he stepped back, ushering Yami inside. "Mokuba was worried that you would not be coming back."

"I missed being here," Yami murmured, feeling Victor removing his jacked he adjusted his arms to help him. Once done, he turned to the elderly man, a bright grin upon his face, the bags under his beautiful eyes visible.

Victor noticed this instantly, concern crossing his face, "Are you well?"

He was about to answer but the excited cry of a young familiar voice caught their ears and Yami immediately found his arms full of a warm young body with a full head of raven hair. Grunting, he stumbled back hitting the wall in his uneasiness, Mokuba laughing gaily in his arms. A tired but pleasant smile crossed over his features as he glanced down at the young man, "Missed you too, Mokie."

Mokuba lifted his head, gray eyes gleaming with joy, "Why have you been away for so long?"

"It was only a week," Yami protested, eyes shifting towards the kitchen as Seto and Taita made their way out to investigate the noise.

"It was more than that... two days over that," Mokuba protested, playfully hitting his shoulder and allowing Yami to move away from the wall.

Chuckling, Yami ruffled his hair, "Good to know that I was missed."

"Yami," Taita said, breaking through the cheer with the seriousness in his tone. Turning to him Yami swallowed hard, giving a nod of acknowledgement to his comrade. Grunting, Taita moved towards him, gripping his shoulder tightly and whispering into his ear. "Come with me for a second… we need to talk."

Reluctantly Yami nodded, sending a reassuring smile towards Seto and the others he removed his shoes and followed Taita into the piano room, watching as his friend closed the door to give them some privacy. Heaving a sigh, Yami sank down onto the piano bench, lifting his gaze to Taita's face as his friend stared down at him, arms crossed.

"Did he hurt you?" Taita demanded, dark cerulean eyes hard with concern and anger.

"I don't think that that matters Tai…"

"It damn well does in my mind!" Taita snapped, forcing Yami to jump in surprise. Moving to the bench Taita placed a hand upon the piano, leaning beside his friend so that their faces were but a few inches apart. "You are one of my best friends…and I want to make sure that you are fit enough for this."

Violet eyes flashed in fury, rage visibly boiling within them. "Yes, he touched me alright. But I am in one fucking piece, thus proving that I am not a damn porcelain doll. I can defend myself Taita, why can't you or anyone else understand that concept!" he bellowed, fists clenching till the knuckles turned white from the pressure.

Wincing at the volume and rage pulsating from Yami's outburst, Taita reached out and placed a hand upon his friends shoulder. Instantly Yami moved away, turning his back towards him, and crossing his arms in fury. Taking a deep breath Taita sat down upon the bench, eyes never leaving his friend. "I'm sorry that I am making you feel that way…but, I am just concerned about you, that's all."

Turning Yami moved towards him, un-strapping and removing the bullet proof vest as he went, allowing the heavy vest to collapse to the floor with a thud. Stopping Yami stared down at him expectantly, turning his back to him again, signaling towards his shirt. Taking the hint, Taita gripped the hem of the smooth spandex black tank top before lifting it. Slowly he inched it up, a gasp emitting from his lips as the immense dark bruise upon Yami's mid-back swung into view.

"My God, Yami…" he murmured, eyes lifting to his friend's face, while his warm digits ran over the cool darkened flesh.

"That's all he did," Yami stated quietly, shuddering at the warmth from Taita's fingertips. "I'm scared that….that….he'll follow through with his threat. I can't lose them, all of them, they are all I have left. If they are taken away, then I have nothing left to live for."

Letting the shirt drift down, Taita heaved a heavy sigh, "I think that we can now confirm that it is you that they are after. Santo, doing that just proves it."

"Along with what he said," Yami murmured, head dropping in somnolence. "I believe that he and Lucien are business partners."

Nodding in comprehension, Taita rose to his feet and pulled Yami to him, wrapping a firm arm around his shoulders. "We'll watch over you, I promise. And I know that Joey and Bakura are already doing so."

"They are," Yami agreed as they strode out of the room, moving towards the front door. Ignoring the other's, Yami quickly embraced his friend. "Thank you…for listening."

"You're welcome," Taita smiled, pulling back and retrieving his coat and shoes. "I'll get some officers to watch over the house. I'll see you at the briefing in the morning."

"Yes, good-bye, drive safe," he said pointedly, exaggerating the last part.

"Always do, good night."

With that the door closed and Yami found himself being stared at by three separate pairs of baffled eyes. Swallowing in uneasiness he smiled awkwardly at them. "So…uh…is it tea time yet?"

This earned him several enthusiastic laughs from those before him, the sound warming his heart as Seto moved to openly embrace him. Grinning he welcomed the new customary embrace, allowing Seto to fold his arms around him in a gentle manner. "Everything is in the dinning room," the CEO chuckled softly, caressing Yami's upper back, thankfully unknowingly missing the bruise.

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The house had gone quiet for the last half hour. Yami had done his rounds just before hand, checking to see that Mokuba was still asleep before moving to check on him, smiling warmly at him before vacating. From there he had been alone, the only thing keeping him amused for the last thirty minuets was finishing the layout for a new video game that he had been working on for the last little while. But, nonetheless, the sound of constantly typing was beginning to drive him insane.

Heaving a sigh he raised to his feet, shutting down his computer before vacating the room, intent on finding Yami. He needed something quick to eat as well, he knew that otherwise he would not be able to fall asleep whenever he decided to do so.

Moving down the stairs, he peered into the living room, searching for any signs of life. Instantly his cobalt eyes caught sight of a particularly adorable scene. Upon the couch Yami lay curled up in a ball, blonde bangs splayed across his face, shifting every time he took a small breath.

Smiling warmly Seto strode towards the couch, easing himself down on the open end, reaching out slowly and gently brushing Yami's bangs behind his ears. A chuckle escaped him as Yami moaned, stirring and opening his eyes, staring blearily at him with utter confusion. A warm grin crossed his features, admiring the adorable expression upon Yami's face as the CSI groaned and rolled over, curling against the back of the couch.

Exhaling softly he reached out again, running the back of his digits across Yami's cheek, relishing in the shudder that pulsated through the smooth flesh, urging him to continue. Shifting closer he moved until his legs were pressed up against Yami's- which were currently pulled up to his torso as he tried to drift back asleep. Stabilizing himself with one hand he boldly wrapped an arm around Yami and lifted him into a semi-sitting position, letting the young man curl up against his side in somnolence.

"Someone did not get enough sleep last night," he teased softly, deftly running his fingers through thick crimson, ebony, and golden locks of silky hair. His answer was a small moan, chuckling again he laid back against the opposite arm rest, taking advantage of the situation and pulling Yami with him, forcing the young man to rest half upon his torso.

"What time is it?" Yami grumbled out, barely taking in the position that he was in, or the reactions that his body was having to the tender contact. Shuddering, he snuggled closer to Seto, resting his head upon the man's shoulder.

Glancing at the small clock upon the fireplace mantle, Seto heaved a sigh, "Just after three," he expounded. "You've been asleep for the last half hour."

"I wish that it was longer," he moaned, reaching up and forcefully rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Heaving a sigh, he directed violet orbs towards the CEO, taking in the soft golden glow from the fireplace that illuminated his flesh. Briefly he felt the breath being caught in his throat, his position finally registering in his mind. "Seto?"

"Yes?" Seto answered innocently, smiling warmly while his lose hand came up to gently caress Yami's face. Instantly Yami leaned into his touch, violet eyes closing as he fell into bliss. "Am I making you uncomfortable? I can move if you wish."

"Too…comfortable," Yami murmured, a quick flood of ruby color invading the bronze of his cheeks.

Smirking wickedly, Seto sat up, ignoring the questioning expression upon Yami's face as he cupped his cheek with a single hand. Peering into bewildered and slightly embarrassed violet eyes he chuckled, softly murmuring out, "You are absolutely adorable when you do that."

A small shy grin tugged at the edge of Yami's mouth, forcing him to turn his head away. Why suddenly, did he feel like a giddy little schoolgirl being asked out by the most attractive guy in the school? He giggled softly to himself, full realization finally kicking in.

_I like him…I really have fallen for him… for someone. I should have noticed this before… it would have explained all of my mixed emotions with him… everything about him that has been upon my mind. _

Averting his gaze back to the CEO he smiled again, the blush upon his cheeks darkening into a dark rosy hue. "Thank you, Seto….I… no one has ever said that to me before."

Chuckling Seto shifted forward, leaving their faces so that they were mere centimeters apart. "Well it's about time that someone did," he murmured, grinning brightly before moving forward.

A gasp escaped from Yami's lips as he realized what was about to transpire. Never before, other than Lucien and one of his men, did someone kiss him in this sort of manner. But here Seto was, millimeters from his face, their eyes drifting shut as they both shuddered at the mere idea of what they were about to do.

Just before they came into contact, a shrill scream ripped through the house, causing the two of them to jump. Yami reacted instantly, retrieving his gun from the floor and barreling towards the stairs, taking each two at a time as Mokuba's frantic footsteps could be heard from the top of the stairs.

Stepping into the dark hallway Yami immediately found Mokuba dashing behind him, small hands frantically gripping his shirt and a head pressing into his back. Lifting his berretta Yami peered into the darkness before him, eyes adjusting to the darkness as he scanned it for signs of danger.

Seeing no movement he was about to turn and assure Mokuba that what ever had bothered him had just been a nightmare, when a gunshot rang through the air, the hot bullet splintering the wood of the railing beside him. Panicking, he lifted his gaze, vision locking upon several dark figures pouring out from the young Kaiba's room.

"Shit!" he cursed, forcefully shoving Mokuba down the stairs, yelping as another shot was fired, forcing him to turn and return the blasts while Mokuba kept screaming.

Pressing his back against the stairwell wall, Yami glanced over at Seto, holding his weapon ready as he yelled out, "Get upstairs now! I'll meet you up there… MOVE IT!"

Loud shots rang out again, boisterous voices yelling out incoherently over the blasts, as the bullets shatter the corner besides him and the railing before him, showering Yami with chunks of wood and drywall. Coughing from the dust, Yami pointed his berretta over his shoulder, firing random shots to keep the men within the hallway distracted while he yelled out to Seto, eyes noticing that the CEO and his brother had yet to move. "GO SETO! I'll be fine trust me…just get out of here!"

Dark cobalt eyes narrowed at him, clearly unconvinced. Growling, Yami fired a few shots before springing towards the secondary of stairs at the opposite end of the living room, gripping Mokuba's shoulder and glaring at Seto. "Move your ass now before a bullet disables you!"

The sound of shattering glass filled the air around them; sharp cries escaped their lips as they were forced to the floor. Scrambling over, Yami dragged Seto and Mokuba behind the couch and slightly out of the way of the bullets that were now raining down upon them. Watching the two brothers sit with their backs to the couch he shuffled about in the dark, finding his duffle bag underneath an end-table nearby he wrenched it towards him.

Ignoring the shots raining upon them he scrambled into the bag, hastily taking out the ammunition and extra weapons he would need, before forcefully covering Mokuba's shivering frame with one of the bullet proof vests.

Gripping the Beretta's in uneasy hands, Yami held them at ready on either side of him, the cool metal pressing against his hips. Taking a deep breath he glanced at the two brothers briefly, sending them a small comforting smile before springing to the side, rolling away from the couch and toward the smaller seat nearby.

Bullets followed him, ripping up the floor in a trail behind him as he reached the chair. Pressing his back against the back of it, he held up his guns, "Now or never," he whispered to himself, before shifting around and pointing his weapons into the throng of darkly clothed men streaming through the door.

Taking one final breath he squeezed the triggers, his precise aim taking down the first man with a shot to the knee, and the other with one in the shoulder. Twin cries were heard as the men toppled to the ground, their thick crimson fluid spewing across the floor and staining the white carpet.

Santo could hear the gunshots, the resounding loudly through the originally still night air. He cringed at the intensity of the sound as he moved down the hallway, dark eyes adjusting to the minimal light around him as he gripped his pistol in one hand, and slid the other across the wall as a guideline.

The vague shimmer of moonlight distorted by many scrambling bodies fell upon him as he reached the stairs, calmly peering down at the scene before him. He was not surprised that his men had not been able to take a hold of Yami, he remembered the young CSI well in the last and only gun fight that they had ever been in. He was evasive, very good at avoiding shots, and had precision aim that rivaled that of any professional hit man.

He chuckled softly, eyes drifting over the carnage below. At least five of his men lay dead upon the floor; others were wounded, their blood tainting their uniforms, while their weapons continued to fire at a lone target.

His eyes drifted in the direction of the target, a triumphant smirk tracing its way across his face at seeing the crouched figure of Yami below. He was scrambling, hands fumbling to force another set of ammunition into both of his weapons, the empty ones tossed across the floor. Violet eyes were concentrated solely upon what he was doing, clicking the ammunition slots in before turning back, firing random rounds over the arm rest of the couch, hitting anything that he could while his gaze watched for any that were trying to move towards his shielded charges.

'_Perfect,'_ he though to himself, moving towards the stairs and taking the first step. '_Vulnerable and alone.' _

His men noticed him as he reached the last step, they back off slightly, averting their rounds slightly away from their target, keeping Yami distracted while not hitting him as he move across the floor. His steps were silent like a panthers in the night, his movement minuet and undetectable through the gloom.

Finally he found himself standing but a foot away from Yami as he continued to fire randomly at his men, keeping his head down as he did so. He smirked, adjusting his hand around his pistol before taking the final few steps forward.

Just then cerulean eyes gleaming in the dark from behind the opposite couch spotted him, darkening in rage as the CEO yelled out. "Yami, watch out behind you!"

Yami was not able to react as the cold butt of a pistol pressed into the back of his neck, the chilling metal causing him to stiffen and shiver. Gulping he closed his eyes, shaking slightly in fear as Santo's voice flooded over him. "Drop your weapons, and rise to your feet. Otherwise, your little friends here will receive the consequence."

Obediently Yami relinquished his hold of the guns, allowing them to clatter to the floor before slowly rising to his feet, the gun never leaving its position against his neck.

A set of soft cold lips pressed against his ear, chuckling deeply within his throat, Santo grinned. "We have company."

Violet eyes narrowed questioningly only to widen in shock as more men poured in from the kitchen, their weapons before them and aimed downwards at the two brothers upon the floor. Yami bit his lip, closing his eyes in fear of watching as Seto and Mokuba were forced to rise to their feet.

Seto averted his gaze towards Yami, overwhelming concern boiling through him as his arms were forcefully grabbed by two men and he was yanked kicking and growling towards the middle of the debris. He could see Yami shaking under Santo's touch as the man wrapped an arm around him, pinning his arms to his sides as two men moved to stand beside him, ready to take hold of the hostage when their master felt ready to let go.

Snarling, he jerked against his captors grasp, eyes jerking in Mokuba's direction as the terrified adolescent was pulled into the tight embrace of a tall, burly man, whose body shape seemed oddly familiar to him. Then realization dawned upon him and he jerked his head upwards, fear radiating from his form as soulless black eyes peered back mockingly at him, a widespread hand gently caressing his brother's cheek.

"Fresh meat," the man chuckled, his deep chilling voice sending shivers down Seto's spine. "Though…probably not as pleasing as what I have already claimed, but it could do the trick."

"Don't touch him," Seto snarled, tugging aggressively against the two men as they forcefully bound his hands and forced him to his knees. Then, soft laughter reached his ear and he rapidly averted his gaze from his brother to Yami. Santo was laughing softly as Yami squirmed against him, clearly fighting the urge to scream and cry as he did so, his body trembling viciously in fear.

Pale lavender eyes snapped open, fear radiating from them as they averted towards the man that had caused him so much pain. His mouth moved slightly, but only a ghost of a whisper could pass through, "Go away."

Lucien chuckled darkly, "I can't do that Yami, I have yet to find a satisfying partner in the past few years, and I am feeling rather deprived. I could, of course, experiment on a new prize, but I am still convinced that I will not be satisfied with it."

"Don't even think about it," Yami suddenly snapped, eyes averting to a near black shade, a dangerous flame flickering within them. "He's just a fucking child."

"So were you," Lucien shot back, his hand trailing softly down the young boy's arm, smirking as Mokuba whimpered and tried to pull away.

Taking a breath Yami snarled, "I don't care. You ruined my life with what you did, I'll be damned if I let you harm another in the way that you did me. Mokuba does not deserve that, he has done nothing."

Terrified tears began to leak down Mokuba's cheeks, his eyes shifting pleadingly between Seto and Yami, begging silently for them to help him. Lucien could feel this and laughed in pleasure, turning the boy around and peering down into his innocent eyes. Lifting his hand he ran the tip of a single digit across the boy's chin, "I miss seeing eyes like that, I barely got to peer into yours the last time that we…"

A startled cry, a pained scream, and the resounding roar of a gun echoed through the house. Mokuba stumbled back as hot blood spattered across his face as Lucien retracted his hand, growling in pain as he lifted the appendage before his eyes. A burning bullet hole through the middle of his hand met his gaze, the shock kicking in as he felt adrenaline rush through his system, eyes watching his own blood trickle down his hand and into the sleeve of his shirt.

Dark eyes snapped vehemently towards Yami as the gun was wrenched out of the CSI's hand and he was forced down to his knees by the two men. Santo stood back, cradling his wounded groin, an expression of pure agony plastered over his face as he watched Yami struggle wildly. Deep frustrated growls leaving the throat of the young man as he fought against the two men who where trying to pin him to the floor.

Snarling Lucien shook his hand slightly before stalking towards Yami, ignoring the painful sting in his hand from the bullet wound. His eyes had darkened, crimson almost shinning through the black as he reached out and snagged the face of the young CSI, forcing defiant yet fearful violet eyes to lock with his own. Growling he yanked upwards, forcing Yami to his feet, nearly throwing the young man off balance as the two men released their hold upon him.

Lucien hissed in pain as his wounded hand was gripped and squeezed by a surprisingly strong hand. He stared down hard at Yami, catching the surge of courage in his eyes, before the young man slammed a fist into his stomach, winding him and forcing him to hunch over in pain and surprise. Within seconds of that the back of a hand slammed across his face, and a hard foot collided with his shoulder, sending him to the ground amidst the chaos that broke out.

Regaining his composure he sat up, pressing a hand over his now bruised cheek, allowing his eyes to drift over at Yami. The young man was being pinned to the floor by three men, one sitting upon his back, and the other two holding his arms down. All the while Yami continued to thrash and struggle, growling in his efforts.

Shaking his head Lucien rose to his feet, "You have grown bold in the last few years," he stated, watching as Yami's gaze lifted towards him, all courage leaving and being replaced with fear. "I suppose that I will have to break you of that habit. Possessions of mine will never defy me… and they will pay for striking me as you just have."

Seto watched as Yami's form began to shake in fear under the hold of his captors as Lucien moved back towards him, the man's anger radiating from his form. Growling he struggled furiously against the two men holding him, he had made a vow that he would never allow Lucien to hurt him again, and he would be damned if he did not fulfill that vow.

His eyes watched vaguely as Lucien lifted Yami to his feet and crushed him to his torso, burly arms nearly breaking his smaller frame. He could hear Mokuba crying as Lucien brutally shoved the CSI towards the floor, the bang of Yami's head hitting the hardwood echoing through the house.

He could see the men stand aside as Lucien knelt down beside his son, whom was cradling the back of his head, eyes trying to focus upon his oppressor. A desperate cry rang from his lips as Lucien cupped his hand behind Yami's head and forcefully kissed him, taking advantage of his now incoherent state.

When the man pulled back he shoved Yami back to the floor, laughing at the forced pained moan that was torn from Yami's reluctant throat. He lifted a fist, smirking before cascading it down upon Yami's torso, the CSI was unable to block the first blow, but the rest were repelled as he crossed his arms over the said region.

"You, Yami, will now have the blood of an innocent upon your hands," Lucien growled out as he stepped back and rose to his feet. Russet eyes peered down at the near unconscious young man at his feet, unfocused lavender eyes peered up at him. "I will have you…remember that."

Upon the floor Yami blinked, taking in what was being said, but before he could process it Seto's desperate cry, and Mokuba's scream rang in his ears before a sudden sharp lance of pain enveloped his head, sending him into oblivion.

A/N: again, sorry for the lateness…and well…shortness of the chappie…I hope that all of you can forgive me. R and R please.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author:** Yami Neferbre

**Title: Crimson Trust**  
**Disclaimer**: I do not own Yugioh, or CSI Miami, or Waste by Staind

**Paring**: SetoxYami  
**Rating**: R (just to be safe with the content)

**Warning**: Violence, language, sexual content, rape, character death

**Spoilers**: None  
**Summary**: Yami has always been lied to, always been betrayed and hurt. Working as a special agent for the CSI crime lab in Miami he finds peace while raising his younger siblings. But an old enemy has returned, and a wonderful man just entered his life. Can he trust a stranger, or will he simply give up on life all together.

Story idea came from the song _Waste _by _Staind_  
**Status: **10/32

**A/N:** _SUMMER IS COMING! NO JOB! NO SCHOOL! ABSOLUTE BLOODY FREEDOM TO WRITE HERE I COME! LOL! Anyway…back to sanity. Really sorry that I have taken this long to update…I have had recent injuries to my knee that have put me on some pretty messed up pain killers…and had some family problems to deal with…along with exams and having to quit my job. So, because of my lateness…I have made this a rather long chapter…and possibly one where you will either want to kill me…or hug me…depends, lol. _

_**TEN**  
_

_Your mother came up to me  
She wanted answers only she should know  
It wasn't easy to deal  
With the tears that rolled down her face  
I had no answers cause I didn't even know you  
_

"_That's it love, open your eyes," soothed an angelic voice beside him, soft dainty but strong hands caresses his face and smoothened his hair, soft kisses were pressed to his brow and cheeks, encouraging him to awaken. Moaning he forced his eyes open a minuet amount, only to gasp in pain and close them as blinding light invaded his vision, white and overpowering. _

_A hand gripped one of his, squeezing it encouragingly as that same voice called out, "Maria, turn off the light please, just leave the lamp on." Immediately the back of his eyelids went from scorching crimson, to a soft grey, assuring him that the lights were off. _

_Those same tender lips kissed his brow again, "Come on sweetie, open your eyes."_

_With a final effort he forced his eyes open, squinting in agitation and pain at the minimal light that the lamp was casting over him. His vision was unfocused, all he could make out were dark shapes, two of women, one hovering over him, the other moving away, the sound of a door opening and closing confirming that she was leaving. _

_Blinking constantly he forced his vision to focus, violet eyes peering up at the woman above him as he was finally able to make her out, all of his senses slowly leaking through and allowing him to feel everything. _

_The woman above him bit her lip in concern as he cried out softly in pain, all of his injuries becoming apparent to him, she continued to kiss and caresses him, comforting him in the only way that she knew. Her sweet violet eyes staring at him intently, and apologetically, "I'm sorry that this happened to you love, just stay still honey, and the pain will lessen." _

"_Mom," he moaned out in distress, unsure of how to handle the overwhelming pain that was cascading over him. The bullet wound to his hip and shoulder throbbed intensely, while the bruises, broken leg and wrist, concussion, and the discomfort in his lower regions simply worsened it. _

_Holding back tears, the woman kissed his cheek gently, "Just lay still love, Maria has to go get some more morphine, your dose just wore off, have patience." She squeezed his hand again, brushing a blonde bang from her face as she peered down at him. "I'm so sorry baby, I didn't know that he was hurting you this badly, I'm sorry." _

"_Isolde," came a masculine voice from the door. The woman turned, never leaving her son's side, as her eyes fell upon a tall, blonde haired doctor, his face worried and familiar. _

"_Jeremy," she murmured._

"_Is he awak," the man asked, concerned hazel eyes glancing at the boy writhing in pain upon the bed. Immediately he moved forward, removing a fresh cloth from one of the nearby racks as he went. Sitting upon the opposite side of the bed, the doctor reached out and gently rubbed the boy's unwounded side gently, trying to avoid any possible bruises that could remain there as he did so. "I'll call Joey; he'll kill me if I come home and tell him that I he woke up and I didn't say anything." _

"_But it's past visiting hours," Isolde murmured, continuing to caress her son's face, trying to soothe him while they waited for Maria to come back with the morphine. _

"_I know…but like you, he gets special privileges, mostly since I'm his father," he said with a wry smile, quickly running to dampen the cloth that he held with cold water before rushing back. "Yami hold still, you're wriggling is not helping you right now." _

_Yami curled up into as best of a ball as he could manage, an anguish filled cry escaping him as he moved to brush away Jeremy's hand when he placed the cloth upon his brow. "But it hurts," he protested. "Gods it hurts." _

"_Just hold still baby, Maria will be back momentarily," assured Isolde, laying down alongside her son upon the bed and holding him to her, allowing him to rests his head upon her chest. "Stay still love, I'm here." _

"_Let me check his eyes," Jeremy said, gently encouraging Yami to roll onto his back. "I need to see if his concussion has lessened any." _

"_Mr.Wheeler… don't… light hurts," Yami pleaded. _

_Sighing Jeremy smiled down at Yami, cupping his cheek with a single massive hand, "I have to Yami, I'm sorry, now keep your eyes open, I promise I wont do anything more to you after this." _

_He stared up at the flashlight being held by Jeremy, shaking from the pain that he was expecting. Hearing a click he prepared himself for the blinding ray of light that hit his pounding eyes. _

"Ow, what the?" he moaned out as a flashlight was shone into his eyes, blinding him and increasing the intensity of his apparent headache. He felt hands moving over his torso, removing his clothing and sharp digits pressing over the bruises there. He gasped, thrashed out slightly in panic before a soothing voice whispered to him, and a familiar smooth hand gripped one of his.

"Easy buddy," Taita said, sharp cerulean eyes watching the two paramedics working upon his now conscious friend. "They're just checking you over."

Immediately when the flashlight left his vision he peered around him, taking in the cops rushing around, tired neighbours being kept back behind the security tape, and the two duel flashing ambulance lights nearby. Blinking he glanced at Taita in bewilderment, "What happened?"

Biting his lip Taita shook his head, "I was afraid of this. Lucien and Santos attacked you, Seto made the call after they left, you were unconscious by then. I have some really bad news Yami…"

Shifting his gaze Yami caught sight of a stretcher being removed from the house, a small black body bag being carried upon it, Seto following closely behind with two officers supporting him. Narrowing his eyes he sat up, ignoring the protests of the paramedics and tried to rise to his feet, only for his head to spin and Taita to catch and hold him upright.

"The body…please say no…" he pleaded, violet eyes peering at Taita, begging to be told otherwise.

Taita shook his head, tears coming to his eyes, "He jumped in front of a shot aimed at Seto…it was instant, he didn't suffer. It happened just before we got in."

"No…" Yami choked out, tears welling in his eyes, forcing Taita to lay him back down upon the stretcher. "Please say that you're joking."

"I'm not," Taita murmured gently, gripping Yami's hand tightly. "Seto wants to see you as soon as he is done being checked, he wants to know that you're alright."

Shaking his head loosely Yami peered at Taita, his tears beginning to leak from the corner of his eyes, "I can't face him, not yet," he chocked out, hissing in pain as the paramedics pressed a particularly sensitive spot upon his torso. "His brother died because of me…as did his mother. I can't, please Taita just get me away from here."

Heaving a sigh Taita nodded, turning towards the paramedics he locked gazes with them, the two men nodded knowingly and immediately began to cover Yami with a blanket and raise the stretcher. Giving Yami's hand a firm squeeze he smiled at the young man encouragingly, "I'll swing by when we're done here. Take care of yourself till then, alright?"

Nodding for an answer Yami gave him a forced smile before the stretcher was lifted into the ambulance. The paramedics rushed around for a moment, quickly assuring Taita that Yami was in good hands before they moved to the front of the vehicle, entering it they slammed the doors shut before flaring the sirens and speeding off down the street in the direction of the hospital.

Scratching his neck Taita turned to peer at the house before him, taking in the damage he grunted, "Better start now, already have a long night ahead."

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To say that he was not tempted to run into the nearest restroom and lose what little remained of his supper, would be a lie. He sat in the waiting room, pale as a ghost, shaking uncontrollably, and hunched over with his crossed arms pressed tightly against his gut. Maria sat along side him, tender hands rubbing his back in slow comforting circles, seemingly unconcerned about the affects that the painkillers were having upon her charge. She watched him carefully, seeing if his gut would handle the stress of the medications, along with making sure that a garbage can was close at hand.

His torso was throbbing, along with his head, only adding to the queasiness he felt. Groaning he closed his eyes, clenching his teeth tightly he asked, "What time is it?"

Glancing down at her watch Maria sighed, "Almost seven thirty, Taita should be here pretty soon."

"Hopefully," he moaned out. "Because I really don't want to stay here."

Smiling softly she squeezed his shoulder gently, "Have patience. And remember, drink lots of water but try not to eat solid foods for the next few days, let your body adjust to the medication." Receiving a nod for an answer she rose to her feet. "I have to return to my duties though honey, my break is over. Come back in a week or so to get checked, alright?"

"Uh huh," Yami murmured, glancing up at her with pale amethyst eyes. "Thank you for staying."

"You're welcome honey," she said before turning away, with a wave she moved off into the throng of people within the hospital, weaving her way back to her section.

He watched her go for a moment until she was beyond his vision range. Instantly he pulled his knees up to his throbbing torso, desperately seeking some comfort from his pain. Ignoring the eyes of people around him he tried to curl up into as much of a ball as he could, avoiding making any noises as his body protested in agony.

Feeling a cool draft from the doors nearby he shivered from the cold. Bare from the waist up –save for the bandages and a diminutive blanket – he was exposed and an easy target for the cold. Moaning he wrapped the blanket tighter around him, only to gasp in shock when a pair of warm hands removed the blanket and wrapping a thick coat around his shoulders pulled him against a firm broad chest.

Blinking he glanced up, forcing himself to uncurl from his ball and peer at the person holding him. His eyes widened, first in shock then uncertainty, "I thought Taita was picking me up."

Shaking his head, Seto smiled gently, "He is still processing the house, so he allowed me to come and get you."

Unable to say anything Yami merely nodded and allowed Seto to help him rise to his feet. His head begin to spin, forcing his body to sway, and the man helping him to hold him tightly in support. Concerned cerulean eyes peered down at him, silently asking him if he was ready to move yet. Again he nodded for an answer and allowed Seto to support him out of the building and into the cool morning air of Miami.

Shivering he unconsciously moved closer to the CEO, relishing in the warmth and security that he felt. All the while not noticing the soft smile upon the brunette's face.

Clambering into the front seat of a sleek cobalt sports car, he snuggled into the seats, and through his headache, tried to contemplate how he was going to survive this ride without breaking down before the CEO in guilt. Pulling on his seatbelt he averted his attention out the window as Seto entered the vehicle. He could feel those enchanting eyes staring intently at him, but he felt too guilty and too horrible at the moment to face him.

Seto sighed, he had already heard that Yami was blaming himself for what happened, but he did not think that it was so much so that the young man could bring himself to completely blank him out. Blinking he averted his attention forward, turning on the heat in the vehicle before driving off onto the streets of Miami. It would seem that he would have to break the CSI out of his shell of guilt.

Gaining an idea he gently turned up the music, watching Yami's expression as to tell when it was too loud, and kept his attention on the road. If Yami was not going to willingly talk to him, then he would make sure that he had no other choice.

It took Yami relevantly fifteen minuets to realize that they were not heading to his home. It hit him when they passed right by the turn off and kept on going towards the overpass that he and Seto had walked across not long ago with ice cream. Blinking he glanced at Seto in uncertainty, _What is he doing..? _

Then, as he watched the vehicle turn into the beach parking lot, he realized what was transpiring. Biting his lip he sat back in his seat, ignoring the twisting and protesting of his stomach, along with his injured regions. _He wants to talk…just what I need right now… _

Clambering out Seto moved towards the opposite door, opening it he reached in extending his hand to Yami, offering to help him. Yami glanced at his hand briefly, debating whether to push it away or accept it. His want to be around the security and comfort of the brunette winning and he took Seto's hand, relishing in the heat of his digits, and the arms that soon wrapped around him to help him out.

He barely paid attention as Seto led him out onto the beach, lifting him gently into his arms and carrying him towards the farthest spot from the other people whom were already enjoying the ocean waves. Groaning from grogginess and pain he snuggled closer to the CEO, hoping that the action would also help hide his eyes so that he would not be forced to face him.

Finally Seto found a place that was to his liking. It was a small secluded spot off towards the farther end of the beach, a single palm tree casting a minuet shadow across the near white sand. Sitting down Seto rested his back against the trunk of the tree, circling his arms loosely around Yami, making sure that both he was not being too forceful, but enough so that Yami could not try and move away from him. Though, because of what had nearly transpired earlier in the night, he doubted that Yami wished to leave anyway.

Sighing Seto rested his cheek upon Yami's head, lightly taking in the soft scent of cologne that still lingered along with the saltiness of the ocean before them. Blinking he peered out at the rolling waves, watching the white foam cascade upon the sand, coating it and transforming the shade from pale golden shade, to a soft beige. Gazing down at Yami he found that the young man seemed to be captivated by the same thing, violet eyes lazily viewing the waves in their mezmeric dances.

"The tides of the ocean, their flow controlled by the moon above, its gravity creating them, encouraging them to roll upon the beaches and rock faces that surround them, dying off when their goal is reached. Such is life, we are created, and we die, it is something that we cannot control, only fate and what ever religion figure you follow can decide when and how.

"We are born, we live the lives that are set out for us, we fulfill what we were destined to do, and then we die. We leave this world to live in the next, and be with those that we have lost or to protect those that we have left behind. One will never live beyond when they are supposed to unless it is decided that they must live on, that there is still other things that they must do.

"So, like the tides that are rolling before us, they have no control of when they perish, of where they go, and of what happens around them. They merely do as they have been set out to do," he said softly, cerulean eyes watching the face of the man in his lap, taking in the narrowing and widening of his soft eyes. Then, they turned up to him, bewilderment and slight fury blazing within them.

Immediately the young man shook his head, covering his face with a single hand, "How could you possibly want me around… your mother and brother were killed because of me…they were removed from you because of me. How could you stand the sight of me…never mind be trying to comfort me when it is you that need it more."

Sighing Seto reached up, gently taking Yami's hand within his and pulling it away from that face that he had grown to adore. Smiling softly down at Yami he caressed his cheek gently with his other hand, ignoring the stiffening of flesh and relishing in the shudder that soon transpired beneath his touch.

"Because Yami, I know that you had no control over what happened, that you did not want it to, and that you did not mean to bring your past into my life. With that in mind, I can easily forgive you, because you tried to protect us. Even through your fear of him Yami, you risked your safety for Mokuba. And I can guarantee that he will know that…wherever he is now…he knows it, and he thanks you for it, just as I do. I am grateful for what you have done…but more so, I am grateful that because of this, you were brought into my life," Seto murmured gently, peering back into deep violet pools.

Blinking Yami turned his gaze away, feeling tears come to his eyes again he pulled his hand from Seto's and covered them, hissing as cold wetness began to coat his skin. "How..? I don't understand why… my arriving in your life has destroyed those that you care for…how could…?"

A firm but gentle digit pressed over his lips, silencing him and forcing him to move his hands and peer up at the owner of the finger. Blinking he held back a gasp at the raging emotions that he could see blazing within Seto's eyes, they were ones that he had seen before, similar yes but yet still different. He remembered his mother giving him the same emotions, along with his siblings and family. Then he recognized it, chocking back a sob he bit his lip.

"Because Yami…I care about you…I care about you more than I have for anyone else that I have met," Seto expounded, staring intently at him before smiling softly. "That is why I can hold you Yami, that is why I am comforting you, that is why I am still here, because I want to be with you."

"I don't understand…how could you care about someone that is so tainted when you could easily have someone that is mentally sane, that will not break down and cry when too much physical contact is made. How could you want me…a broken vessel that only lives because he must," he moaned out, tears cascading unnoticed down his cheeks. "You deserve better."

"But this is what I want," Seto murmured, reaching up and gently brushing Yami's tears aside with the palm of his hand. "This is the best that I can get. I don't care how tainted you are, how broken that bastard has made you. I don't care, because I know that those qualities can be melted away, that you can be healed. You, Yami, are all that I want right now, and I will wait forever to have you if I must."

Yami melted under the CEO's tender touch, leaning into his hand and moaning at the sensations that it was bringing. Closing his eyes he snuggled into the contact, whispering out, "I don't deserve you."

"Yes, you do Yami… you deserve more than me, you are the most amazing person that I have ever met. Your bravery, passion, intelligence, integrity, and compassion have drawn me to you. You are the one that should have better, not I."

"But Seto…"

Smiling Seto ran the tip of his thumb over Yami's bottom lip, pleased when the young man stopped protesting and leaned into his touch. "Trust me Yami," he whispered gently, kisses Yami's ears tenderly, ghosting his hand down the man's back, his smile broadening at the trembling that he could feel. "I want to be with you, and I want to protect you, I want to heal you."

Shuddering Yami felt his body reacting to the pleasure that Seto was bringing him, he moaned out in uncertainty, unsure of how to react to such bliss. The indecision was instantly removed as Seto tucked a single finger under his chin, lifting it and forcing his gaze to lock with his. The man smiled at him, melting away the fear within him, before he leaned in deep eyes closing as he pressed soft warm lips to his own, sending a surge of pleasure and security through him.

Gasping slightly in surprise he gripped Seto's shoulders tightly, his body shuddering from the sensation that was being placed upon him. Never has such an action brought him such euphoria before, it had always made him feel disgusted and used. Yet, here Seto was, bringing him such pleasure, and spawning such strong loving emotions from him that he could not imagine pulling away, he did not wish to.

His first kiss…his first true kiss.

Unconsciously he wrapped his arms around Seto's neck, moving as close as he could towards the man's warmth, ignoring the intense pain that it brought him. The pleasure was far better and worth the agony. He shivered in pleasure as Seto fully wrapped his arms round him, holding him close and worshipping him as if he was a god, a sensation that he never thought he would feel.

His mind was so foggy that when Seto finally pulled away from him- knowing that his torso could not take his lack of breathing - he barely felt it. His body was still clinging to the taste, to the sensation, to the heat of such a loving action. Blinking he focused his gaze upon the CEO, forcing his mind to come down from its high, and slowly making his body come back to reality.

Seto smiled at him gently, and he smiled back. Blushing darkly he turned his head away in shyness, a single hand covering the heat upon his cheeks. He heard the CEO chuckle slightly, blinking he averted his attention to him, "What's so funny?"

"You," Seto murmured gently, a single widespread hand moving to cups his cheek. "You are so adorable when you do that… so cute."

"You flatter me too much," Yami murmured, feeling the blush upon his cheeks darken.

Smirking Seto leaned forwards, pecking his lips lightly, "It's all true…and all well deserved."

Resting his head against Seto's broad shoulder Yami sighed contently, feeling one step closer to completion for the first time in his life. Snuggling against the CEO he closed his eyes, "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

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Within an hour of arriving at his home, Gabe along with several police officers came by to retrieve a statement from him, and to inform him that for the next two weeks there would be police officers guarding his home. He had not been pleased with the idea, but understood the reasons and allowed it, thankful when the officers left to take guard outside the house and he was left alone with just Gabe's comforting presence.

Gabe had stayed there with him for a few hours, helping him around the house and simply giving him some pleasant company, keeping him occupied and distracted. He was surprised that when three o'clock rolled around that he had not had an attack or any nervous breakdown of any kind.

Getting off of the phone with Bakura he slouched back on the couch, eyes closing in exhaustion. Rubbing his throbbing temple Yami listened absently as Gabe shifted through the case file, the rustling of paper slowly increasing the agony within his head. His torso had at least calmed down, well, except when he took a particularly large breath. He was glad that he got out of that with only a few stressed ribs, no broken or fractured ones. It was the last thing that he needed right now.

Opening his eyes he glanced at Gabe, noticing the photo that the man was staring at he clenched his fists. "I think we can all tell who did all of this now…we don't need the actual confirmation to know it."

Gabe nodded, scowling slightly, "Lucien…unfortunately though we still need to full prove that, and then get him into custody."

"Heh," Yami grunted, covering his eyes again with his hand. "That is going to be near impossible. The man is amazing at evading the authorities; you should know that by now."

"I do," Gabe sighed, averting his attention from the photos to Yami. "The first and only time that we have caught him was when he attacked you and your mother in the hospital. If Mr. Wheeler had not been there, we would not have caught him."

Sitting up Yami ran a single hand through his hair, holding back a cringe at the oiliness of it. "In other words Gabe, we need another incident like that to catch him, or we never will."

"Pretty much," the supervisor said, shaking his head in disappointment. "And unfortunately for that, while he is still out in the open, you are in danger wherever you go."

Rising shakily to his feet Yami held back a gasp of anguish as his chest seized up and sent a shock of pain through him. Hunching over briefly he leaned against the armrest of the couch, "Not only me…but everyone that I care about."

Nodding reluctantly in agreement Gabe scratched his neck, "We'll have to keep an eye on you while we are out in the field and at the office. Otherwise these officers are only here for two weeks, if there is no activity they leave. But unlike you and Taita with Seto, no one will be following you because of the training that you already have. It was the best that I could get; my supervisor thought that because of your training that you didn't need any protection at all."

Crossing his arms Yami shook his head, a scowl forming on his face, "That's what they don't understand. No matter how much training, no matter how good of a fighter or marksman I am, I'm too afraid of him to really react," he said, frustration evident in his voice. "That much was apparent last night."

"Try not to think about it," Gabe encouraged.

Heaving a sigh Yami moved into the kitchen, body swaying as he tried to keep his vision focused long enough to grab a glass of water. Gaining his goal he leaned back against he counter, eyes closed in bliss as he gulped down the cool beverage. Satisfied he placed the glass down upon the counter, absently tracing the rim with a lone digit. "I need to go pick up Yugi and Kalie soon, school is done in about ten minuets."

"Do you really think you should be driving?" Gabe questioned striding into the kitchen, the concern within his voice evident. "You can barely walk in a straight line…I don't think that you should be getting behind the wheel."

Blinking Yami massaged his temple, "Neither do I, but they would have to wait another hour and a half for Bakura, Mai, or Joey to come pick them up. They know they are not allowed on the bus anymore…they are too afraid too anyway."

Shifting Gabe leaned against the counter, "I could drive you there, if you want."

"I don't want to inconvenience you," Yami murmured, glancing up at his friend, smiling softly in gratefulness. "You have already done a great deal by staying with me."

Chuckling Gabe shook his head, "If it was an inconvenience, then I would not have offered."

Yami shook his head, his smile still upon his face, "I know, it's just..."

"It's just that I am going to help you pick up you're siblings," Gabe insisted, ushering Yami gently towards the door, chuckling when the young CSI nearly stumbled and fell down the landing to the door. "Besides, clearly you can barely walk never mind drive."

"Don't rub it in," Yami growled playfully, slipping a pair of sandals on before grabbing his keys.

Opening the door Gabe beamed at him, "I'm allowed to Yami," he said winking cheekily. "Its part of my job."

Shaking his head Yami followed him out into the yard, locking the door behind him before clambering into the car. "You can be such a jerk sometimes."

"Only a jerk?" Gabe teased, turning on the vehicle and backing out of the driveway.

"Fine, you can be an asshole," Yami chuckled lightly, pulling on his seatbelt. "Though…you could be a …"

"Hey," Gabe protested. "I'm cruel, but not unusual."

"Do you really want me to answer that."

"No."

"I thought not," Yami said smugly, reclining his seat back slightly to allow him some comfort from the pains in his torso.

Once arriving at the school Yami immediately clambered out of the car and made his way slowly towards his siblings, Gabe watching him closely as to be ready to come to his aid if he fell. He spotted Kalie first, striding towards her he waved at her friends, gaining their attention and causing her to turn and face him. Brilliant azure eyes snapped in his direction, first in joy, then once catching the sway in his motions and the bandage wrapped around his brow, they turned to concerned.

Moving away from her friends, Kalie immediately wrapped her arms around him tightly, lessening her hold when he hissed in pain. Stepping back she peered up at him, her gaze reminding him so much of the woman that she nearly mirrored in appearance.

"What happened?" She questioned, gently running her fingertips over the bandage upon his brow.

Yami smiled at her weakly, pressing a gentle kiss to her brow, "I'll tell you when we get home. Gabe's driving so why don't you meet me there, I have to find Yugi."

"Yami!" called a slightly high pitched masculine voice from nearby.

Turning Yami and Kalie caught sight of Yugi running recklessly towards them. Not seeing anyone chasing him, or anything out of the ordinary with the teen, Yami crocked a brow, "What's wrong with him?"

"No idea," Kalie blinked, stepping out of brother's way hurriedly before the young twelve-year-old ran her over, wincing as Yami gave a slight cry of discomfort as Yugi latched onto him tightly.

"I saw it on the news," Yugi exclaimed, embracing his brother tightly, barely hearing Yami's pained protests. "Our social teacher got us to watch it in class…please tell me you're alright…why didn't you call us!"

Gasping for breath Yami pried his panicking brother from him, once he was able to breath through the pain that had just returned ten fold, he answered. "I'm fine…I think…wait, did you say your social class was watching the news."

Blinking Yugi nodded, "Uh huh, why?"

"How many people here know?" Yami asked, eyes glancing around noticing the young eyes peering at him in sympathy.

"Out of what I know, just my social class, but gossip and stuff like that spread around really fast here," Yugi stated, gripping Yami's hands tightly. "Just don't worry about it, lets go home."

Scowling Kalie hooked her arm around her elder brother's waist, gaining his attention and staring at him inquiringly. "What happened to you last night."

"I'll tell you in the car," Yami murmured, trying to ignore the numerous prying eyes that he felt staring at them. "We need to go home, right now, get to the car."

"Leaving so soon Yami, you just got here," whispered a voice from behind them, one that all three siblings instantly recognized.

Screaming Kalie moved behind Yami, dragging Yugi with her, holding her younger brother tightly as Yami put himself between them and the owner of the voice. Her screams had gained the attention of all the students around that still remained, most instantly could decipher who the man was and with terrified yells, dashed towards their homes, the school, or the nearest vehicle.

Panting Yami stared at the man before him, violet clashing with opaque irises, sending a noticeable chill through his form. Lucien smirked at him, a devilish glint radiating within his malevolent eyes. Reaching behind him Yami gripped a single hand of each of his siblings, giving them a comforting squeeze as he growled out, "What are you doing here?"

Chuckling Lucien took a step forward, eyes glancing towards Yugi and Kalie who stared back at him both with defiance and fear. "I was planning on having a visit with my two children, besides I knew that you would come here."

"Haven't you caused enough damage for one day," Yami snapped, snarling heatedly at the man before him, holding back the shiver within him as Lucien continued to make small steps towards him.

Grinning Lucien took the final step towards Yami, leaving but an inch between them, "I hardly call that damage Yami, it was more like removing what was getting in the way of my goal."

"Mokuba was perfectly innocent," Yugi suddenly bellowed from behind Yami, gaining Lucien's immediate attention. Clinging to Yami's shirt Yugi glared at his father, his normally innocent eyes blazing with anger. "He did nothing wrong, you had no right in killing him."

"Yugi shush!" Yami insisted forcefully, glancing back pleadingly at his brother.

"You killed Mokuba," Kalie gasped out in shock, burning hatred radiating from her form. "You heartless bastard, how could you do that, he's jus a kid!"

Narrowing his eyes Lucien moved sideways slightly, arm reaching out towards the two teenagers, "Watch how you talk to me, I am your Father, remember that you snivelling little brats. Do not speak of things that you don't understand."

"Don't touch them!" Yami growled out, instincts over ridding reason as he gripped Lucien's writs tightly with one hand, while the other balled into a fist and collided with the mans face, forcing him to stumble back. Realizing what he has done he turned towards his siblings. "Get back to the car, tell Gabe, hurry!"

Nodding furiously Kalie swung her backpack onto her shoulder and gripping Yugi's arm, took off at a breakneck speed towards the car, her brother barely keeping pace with her.

Turning back Yami held himself in the ready position, desperately hoping that he could defend himself until Gabe got there, as Lucien straightened himself out, rubbing his wounded cheek enthusiastically. Anger flashed in the mans eyes as his flesh ran over a thin trail of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, growling he turned towards him, his rage apparent. Gulping Yami held his stance, forcing himself to gain back some of his courage, "Never bring them into this…they don't deserve it."

Surging forward Lucien swung his fist towards Yami's face, surprise washing over him as Yami blocked it with a pained groan, his shock increasing when Yami hit him again, but this time he was more prepared. Ignoring the sting that now radiated in his shoulder, Lucien reached out and wrapped an arm tightly around Yami's neck, holding him close.

Yami stiffened in shock, crying out in desperation he struggled against Lucien's hold, nearly screaming in pain as the man circled his other arm around his chest, crushing him against him. Moaning deeply he closed his eyes, waiting for the next thing that his father would do, only to shiver as that deep spine chilling voice whispered in his ear.

"If I ever see you with that Seto again, in the way that you were last night, someone else will die. Do you understand me," he snapped.

Inhaling sharply Yami snapped his eyes open, "What?" he stammered in bewilderment, unable to grasp the concept within his mind.

"Never let him touch you like that again," Lucien growled, possessively tightening his grip around the young CSI. "You are mine, no one else, got that."

Suddenly there was a metallic click from behind Lucien and the man froze in recognition as the barrel of a gun was pressed to the back of his head. "Let him go Lucien," Gabe snapped. "Or I will pull this trigger and get rid of you permanently."

"Frank Gabriel," Lucien hissed, glancing over his shoulder, dark eyes devoid of any emotion.

"The one and only," Gabe growled, shifting his hold on the gun. "Now let him go or your brain matter will be scattered on the ground."

Grunting Lucien pressed his lips against Yami's ear, "You just saved yourself again," he hissed. "But don't expect me to stop…I always get what I want…remember that." With that he shoved his son forward, watching his back collide with the ground, head following in suit. Smirking down at him he moved away, waving smartly as he went.

He was shaking, tears of both fear and grief welling within his eyes. Curling into a ball he let his tears cascade down his cheeks, barely feeling Gabe gathering him in his arms and whispering to him, "It's alright, he's gone."

Stumbling out of the car, Yugi dashed head long towards his brother, ignoring his sisters protests as he did so. Dropping down onto his knees he wrapped his arms around Yami from behind, kissing the dampened cheek that was facing him as his brother cried into Gabe's chest, his fear overwhelming him. Kalie joined him immediately, rubbing Yami's arm and caressing his face and arm, trying to soothe him. Closing his eyes Yugi rested his head against Yami's shoulder, his heart twisting in agony at the sight before him.

"It'll be okay Yami," he murmured, snuggling close to him, not caring about the spectators that were now leaving the vehicles and the school. "We won't let him hurt you ever again."

**A/N:**_ Holy that took a long time. Hope you guys enjoyed it, hopefully what I did to Mokie wont make any of you stop reading this, lol. Anyway, thankie for reading, and for being patient with me _


	11. Chapter 11

**Author:** Yami Neferbre  
**Title: Crimson Trust**  
**Disclaimer**: I do not own Yugioh, or CSI Miami, or Waste by Staind  
**Paring**: SetoxYami  
**Rating**: R (just to be safe with the content)  
**Warning**: Violence, language, sexual content, rape, character death  
**Spoilers**: None  
**Summary**: Yami has always been lied to, always been betrayed and hurt. Working as a special agent for the CSI crime lab in Miami he finds peace while raising his younger siblings. But an old enemy has returned, and a wonderful man just entered his life. Can he trust a stranger, or will he simply give up on life all together.

Story idea came from the song _Waste _by _Staind_  
**Status: **11/32

**A/N:** _Small thing I wanna point out, lol. When I started this fic, I had found the name Isolde, and had yet to see the movie Tristan and Isolde. So, for a small note, the pronunciation for the name is different than in the movie. Its Ih-soul-die, more Japanese in sound (or Egyptian/ Greek) than it is in the movie._

Anyway, onward…Sorry again about the lateness, been in Germany for three months, my grandmother (whom I was really close with) passed away, and I was busy getting ready for Germany before that and fixing my bloody computer and laptop. Hope you enjoy the chapter…it is a bit slow, but hopefully that's alright. R and R please 

_**ELEVEN**_

_Your mother came up to me  
She wanted answers only she should know  
It wasn't easy to deal  
With the tears that rolled down her face  
I had no answers cause I didn't even know you_

She could feel the heaving of his torso, slow and even in sleep, the rhythm stuttering only when he inhaled too sharply. Her fingers ran gently through his hair, parting golden bangs and dark ebony locks. Peering down at him she sighed, he lay curled up beside her, head upon her lap while he gripped her lose hand tightly against his chest. The beat of his heart pulsated through his flesh, the feel of it comforting to her racing nerves.

In the kitchen Mai and Joey silently cooked supper, the feel of their gazes glancing at her occasionally in concern evident. Bakura rested in the other couch, eyes peering absently at Yami as he slept in her lap. While Yugi sat on the floor before her, one of his hands entwined with Yami's, Sacha curled up against his side.

The silence was overwhelming. Heaving a sigh she shifted, Yami unconsciously adjusting his position and tightening his grip on her hand. Yugi turned to look at her, smiling at her warmly. She returned the gesture; glancing back at Mai and Joey in the kitchen she noticed the two taking food, dishes, and utensils to the table.

Bakura grunted, rising to his feet he knelt down beside Yugi, reaching out to gently shake Yami into alertness. Kalie frowned slightly at this, but remained silent when Yami stirred, his dark eyes opening to blearily stare up at her. Blinking a few times to allow his vision to adjust to the light, Yami peered up at her in bewilderment.

Yawning Yami stretched slightly, letting go of his sibling's hands before relaxing back into the warmth of the couch. Averting his gaze to Bakura he raised a questioning brow, "What is it?"

"Supper," Bakura answered, standing up. "Kalie, Yugi, may you please help set the table. I'll get sleepy to his feet." Reluctantly Yugi and Kalie moved into the kitchen, retrieving plates and glasses from the cupboards.

Reaching out Bakura hooked his arm underneath Yami's head, gently easing his friend into a sitting position. Yami groaned when his vision spun from the movement, the pounding in his skill returning. Taking a seat beside his friend Bakura held him steady, allowing him a moment to rest his head upon his shoulders and regain his equilibrium.

Massaging his temple Yami tried to lessen the agony, but all it seemed to do was worsen it. Scowling he closed his eyes, completely resting against Bakura, not willing to move any more no matter how hungry he was. But, Bakura was insistent, urging him to rise slowly to his feet, gripping him tightly as to stabilize him. Inhaling deeply he took another moment, vision trying to focus. Growling when his vision continued to spin, frustrated.

"Easy Yami," Bakura murmured, rubbing his arm gently, trying to be a comfort. "Take your time, there's no rush."

"Why does he seem to be obsessed with hitting my head?" Yami snarled.

Crocking a brow Bakura merely shook his head, "Probably because he knows that it causes more damage."

"Comforting," Yami retorted, taking a breath before starting to walk towards the table. Thankful that Bakura was there as his vision continued to spin and his constant loss of his footing.

Finally reaching the table he sat down, silently worshiping the table as he leaned back in his chair, finally able to focus his gaze and straighten it out. Kalie immediately sat beside him, gently rubbing his shoulder; turning his head he placed a small kiss on her hand in thanks. She smiled at him, kissing his cheek before sitting straight in her chair. Everyone else rapidly joined them around the table, small smiles passing between them before Joey began to pass the bowls of food around.

Taking a small amount of salad and rice, Yami absently began to eat, his attention was more focused on the warning that he had received earlier that day.

"_Never let him touch you like that again. You are mine, no one else's, got that."_

"Yami," Mai said, gaining his attention, gaze lifting to her questionly. "Are you alright?"

Blinking he nodded, regretting it instantly as his headache increased from the action. Resting his elbows upon the table he covered his face with his hands, a frustrated groan emitting from his throat. Glancing at each other, the other occupants of the table remained silent, not wanting to aggravate him.

Tears welled up in his eyes as images of that black body bag flashed before him, of the gun fight the night before, and the expressions of terror upon both Mokuba's and Seto's faces. Chocking back sobs he pushed his seat back from the table, preparing to stand up only for Yugi to dash over to him, wrapping his arms around his torso, forcing him to remain seated. "Yugi, let go, I need to be alone," he pleaded, holding back his tears.

"The instant you are on your own, will be the moment that you will have an attack," Yugi snapped, peering up into his brother's eyes, his desperation apparent. "The last thing you need right now is to be alone!"

"Yugi, let go…please!"

A sudden knock upon the door startled everyone, making them jump in their seats and Sacha barking. Dashing to the door Bakura opened it, peering at the man upon the door step in shock. Cerulean eyes stared back at him in fret, one rimmed in black, while his clothing was sullied and his hair muddled. Taking a step back he stuttered, "Seto…what the hell happened to you."

"Where's Yami," Seto demanded, his voice shaking with worry. "I need to see him."

Stepping aside Bakura allowed him in, watching the man stumble in and toss his shoes and jacket onto the floor, "Of course," he murmured.

Seeing Yami standing up from the table Seto exhaled sharply in relief, dashing forward before wrapping his arms around him, ignoring the stunned expression that Yami had given him upon seeing his appearance. "Thank God you're safe!" he blurted, pressing his lips against the CSI's brow.

Gripping the front of the brunette's shirt, Yami held him close, "What happened to you?"

Slackening his hold Seto stared down at Yami, his tears of mirth welling within his eyes, "Later, I'm just happy that you're safe."

Completely ignoring everyone else in the room Yami reached up and gently ran his fingertips over the blackened skin around one of Seto's eyes. The CEO winced, cringing under the touch. Heaving a shaky breath Yami cupped his face with his hands, "What the hell are you talking about? What happened Seto that has you like this!?"

"Looks like you got the shit beat out of you," Joey stated rather bluntly, snapping the couple out of their trances.

Returning his gaze to Yami Seto inhaled deeply, preparing for Yami's reaction. "They jumped me outside of the hotel…they said that they were going to kill you, or take you away."

"Who's they?" Yami demanded, eyes darkening.

"Santo, Lucien…some of their gang members," Seto murmured.

Jaw dropping in shock Yami stumbled back onto his chair, staring up at Seto in disbelief. Shaking hands reached out and pulled him forward before they began to frantically unbutton his dress shirt. Seto was barely able to do anything as Yami was able to open his shirt, the bruises from the fight standing out boldly. Yami bit his lip, head shaking slightly as he tentatively reached out and tenderly ran his fingers over the abrasions. A chocked sob escaped his throat before he retracted his hand and covered his mouth, shaking visibly, his eyes wide in shock.

"My God," Yami stammered, voice barely audible as he stared up at Seto, eyes pleading. "I'm sorry, I should have known that he would do this, I'm so sorry Seto."

Kneeling down Seto reached out, slowly taking hold of Yami's hand and pulling it away from him mouth, arms circling the young man's waist. Cerulean eyes narrowed in confusion, "Why are you saying sorry?"

"Because," Yami sobbed, resisting Seto's hold, afraid that any more contact between the two of them may cause more harm. "He knows about us Seto…he knows everything. He attacked Gabe, Kalie, Yugi, and I at the school, he threatened to kill someone if I don't stop seeing you. He was being possessive…I should have know that he was going to do something drastic like this. This is the reason why I never wanted to be with someone!"

Feeling his face fall Seto felt his lip tremble in both fear and worry, "He attacked you…why didn't you tell me! I would have come here if I had known!"

"I didn't want you to worry," Yami choked out, tears coursing down his cheeks. "I didn't want to be a burden to you, you don't need that."

"You are not a burden Yami," Seto murmured, pulling him close, satisfied when Yami clung to him, tears dampening his shoulder. "I already told you that."

A growl resounded in the room, gaining Seto's attention. Lifting his head he spotted the fury in Bakura's eyes, his fists clenched till the knuckles were white. The man snarled, his breath shaking with anger, "I am really getting sick of that fucking prick destroying everything. If he confronts you one more time I swear I will hunt him down he beat him into the fucking ground!"

Gripping Bakura's arms Joey held him firm, "Calm down, everyone!" he bellowed. "Just go sit down in the living room and mellow out. This is what Lucien is probably expecting, for one of us to completely lose our tempers and storm out of the house in a blind rage. He's probably waiting out there somewhere for that to happen. So calm down and start thinking rationally!"

Wrenching himself out of Joey's grasp Bakura stormed into the living room, non-chantingly collapsing onto one of the couches, arms crossed as he tried to slow his breathing. Taking a breath Joey ushered Mai, Yugi, and Kalie towards the couches, forcing them to sit down before glancing back at Yami and Seto. Relief washing over him as Seto helped Yami to his feet, holding him as if he was a porcelain doll. Sitting down upon the floor he watched Seto lead Yami slowly into the living room, the CSI's shaking form unsteady.

Easing down onto the love seat Seto pulled Yami into his lap, holding him the same way he had on the beach that morning. Yami rested his head against his broad shoulder, hands clinging to his shirt, fisting in the soft material with his convulsions. Tenderly he began to caress Yami's back and cheek, soothing him and slowly reducing the tremors in his body.

Taking a breath Kalie averted her gaze towards everyone in the group, "Why can't he just leave us alone? What did we ever do to deserve such treatment from him…he's our father."

Yami glanced at her, "You two have done nothing," he murmured, snuggling into Seto's warmth. "I have…unknowingly at the time, but I did."

"But you couldn't stop that Yami," Yugi insisted, hands fidgeting in his lap. "If you really want to get technical, that was his fault, he created the problem."

"Yes," Yami retorted, closing his eyes, relaxing. "But he still blames me for it…and my mother. Thus, he takes his anger out on me."

Pressing a kiss to Yami's brow, Seto inquired, "May I know what that is, I feel rather lost."

Yami took a breath, easing his nerves before speaking. "This all started before I was even born. At the time, my Mother was in grade twelve and had been dating a man named Nick Labrynth for three years. Lucien was well known as a drug addict. At parties he had been caught on many occasions drugging people of both genders. So, at the after grad, he got bold and drugged my mother and took advantage of her while Nick was off elsewhere.

"After that, he had to run. My mother was not stupid, she told the police the next day, and there was a warrant out for his arrest. A month later, my mother found out that she was pregnant…her and Nick had never been intimate, so she knew who the father was."

Blinking Seto took one of Yami's hands in his, squeezing it gently, "He blames you for that?"

Bakura chuckled, "Yes, and for what happened there afterward."

"Elaborate?"

"Mind if I carry on Yami," Bakura questioned, receiving a small nod of consent he continued. "Lucien's mom, Lucia, found out about the pregnancy and got completely involved. She was there for Isolde and Nick through the entire process. What infuriated Lucien even more as we later found out, Lucia and her husband wanted to pay entirely for Yami's medical bills and bought a really nice house for the three of them to live in. Both owned multi-billion dollar corporations and wanted to help their first grandchild in whatever way they could. So, because Lucien refused to be involved with Yami's life, Lucia and her husband completely cut him out of their lives…and their funding."

"Since Yami was born both premature, with severely underdeveloped lungs, and bronchitis, he was in the hospital for…um…"

"Three months," Yami cut in. "On top of that, my Mother and Nick were on a small trip to Egypt at the time. So I was born there, then had to be transported to the children's hospital in Miami when I was stable enough."

Taken aback Seto rested back entirely against the loveseat, holding Yami loosely as he absorbed the information. Coughing slightly he shifted, "Wow."

Joey wrapped an arm around Mai's shoulder, holding her close, "That's not even all of it. Yami was in and out of the hospital constantly until he was about eight. So, when Lucien came back into the picture when he was six, the man used Yami's health problems as a reason to deny parentage to him. But, he had other ideas.

"As you now probably know, Lucien has a taste for guys, Yami especially. So, when he realized what Yami was probably going to look like when he got older, the idea thrilled him, as did the vision of having Isolde and her money."

"That's when Nick disappeared," Yami murmured, violet eyes distant. "We all know what really happened to him, but my mother didn't until the end. Lucien wanted my mother and I so badly that he threatened to harm the two of us unless Nick faked death and left. He did, he left to keep the two of us safe, where he is now, I have no idea. But, thereafter Lucien wormed his way into my mother's heart, and they got married just after Kalie was born."

Scratching his neck Seto glanced at Kalie, running things over in his mind, "It didn't take him long to get into her heart then, you and Kalie are just over seven years apart aren't you."

Yami glanced up at him, "Who ever said that Kalie was Lucien's daughter."

Cerulean eyes widened in shock, disbelief washing over him before Kalie spoke up, "When Lucien and my mom got engaged, she was already eight months pregnant with me…they had only been a couple for four months."

Nodding Yami smiled slightly, peering at her, "That's where she get's her eyes from," he expounded, his sisters vibrant ice blue eyes holding his gaze. "Nick's eyes were like that…"

"So only you and Yugi are Lucien's," Seto questioned.

"Yep," Yugi answered from the floor, rubbing Sacha's belly absently. "He just tries to ignore the fact that Kalie and I exist. Only reason why he allowed me to be born was to keep Mom happy, she had wanted another kid."

Seeing the near brain dead expression that Seto was emitting Bakura chuckled, "I think that we just gave him a brain overload folks."

Blinking Seto directed his attention at Bakura, dumbfounded, "What?"

"Oh yeah, we confused him," said Mai, smiling in mirth.

"I'm not confused," Seto protested. "Just trying to absorb a lot of information."

"Right, believe what you will," Bakura teased, grinning at the CEO. "We all know the truth, you've gone brain dead."

Shifting impatiently upon the floor, Yugi glanced at Yami, "Can we finish eating now…I'm still hungry."

"Go ahead," Yami encouraged, massaging his throbbing temple. "I'm not hungry."

Happily Yugi dashed back to the table, Kalie slowly following. Bakura shook his head, glaring slightly at Yami, "You've barely eaten anything today, yesterday as well."

Averting his gaze slowly towards his friend Yami scowled, "Maria warned me that because of the painkillers I may have some problems keeping food down for a day or two. Besides, I have been drinking enough fluid to sustain me till tomorrow."

"Whatever," Bakura grumbled, rising to his feet and moving to the table, Mai and Joey joining him moments later.

Gently rubbing Yami's arm Seto murmured, "Tired?"

"Hmm," Yami responded, eyes closing. "Very."

"I'll take you to bed then," he said.

"Let me tend to your injuries first, then bed."

Knowing that arguing was futile Seto nodded in agreement. Sitting up fully in the chair, arms tightening around Yami as the man swayed from the sudden movement. He remained still until Yami murmured that he was fine. Standing up Seto turned towards the stairs, carrying the young man securely. Stopping at the bottom of the stairs he looked at the others, "Good night."

"Night," the group responded, smiles gracing their faces.

Yami waved at them briefly before Seto strode up the stairs.

123123123123123123123123123123123123123123

Yami was silent as he worked, small but strong hands gently rubbing a cool cloth over every bruise upon the CEO's upper body. Violet eyes were so fixed upon what they were doing that Seto was surprised that his flesh had not been burned by the intensity of his gaze. He watched Yami work, rubbing him down with the cloth first before taking a jar of tiger balm and coating his darkened flesh with it. The man's touch was soft as a feather, yet concentrated and precise. Once finished Yami moved to hold the cold cloth over his now black eye, soothing away the pain.

"I'm sorry," Yami murmured, gaze finally turning to him for the first time in nearly fifteen minutes

Sighing Seto reached out, hand gently caressing Yami's cheek. "Don't be, its not you're fault. You didn't do this Yami, nor did you intend for it to happen."

Shaking his head Yami dropped his gaze again, focusing upon the flickering candles surrounding them in the bathroom. "He wants me, not you, he should never have touched you."

Taking Yami's hands Seto forced the young man to drop the cloth and look at him. Seeing the fear and guilt he whispered softly, "I would rather it be me than you. I don't care about what he says or does to me Yami, I am not leaving you and I will do everything in my power to protect you."

Wrenching away Yami retrieved the fallen cloth and tossed it into the sink. "The last person that said that, aside from Joey and Bakura, died. Almost everyone that has come between him and I he killed."

"Then I guess that I will have to brush up on my fighting skills, eh?"

Snapping back to him, vision spinning violently from the action, he growled, "You make it sound like this is child's play. He'll kill you for being with me. I belong to him, I'm his property, and you are a threat to his control and possession over me."

"Yami," Seto said forcefully, cerulean eyes locking with blazing violet, gripping Yami's shoulders. "You are not a possession, you are a human being!"

"Tell that to him," he snapped, shoving Seto's hands away. "That's all I am to him, a toy, a slave, born to give him what he wants. I have never been his son, he never wanted me, and I ruined him."

"Is that what you believe, do you agree with him?"

Stunned by the abruptness of the question Yami stared at him in shock, "No…" he stammered.

"Then why bow down to him," Seto insisted, hands rising to tenderly caress Yami's neck and face. Yami tried to look away from him, avoiding what he had said, smaller hands gripping his wrists and trying to pull them away. Having none of that Seto moved forward and wrapped his arms firmly around him, hands continuing to caress his neck and the back of his head. "Hmm, Yami…why give in to his wishes if you don't truly belong to him, why deprive yourself of what is good in life because of him?"

"Because," Yami muttered meekly, head resting against Seto's bare shoulder. "I'm terrified of him."

Pressing a soft kiss to Yami's brow Seto whispered, his voice endearing, "Then let me help you, let me try and protect you and lift that fear from you so that you can live without the knowledge that everything you do has to revolve around him."

"But," Yami protested. "He said that we would kill to get rid of you. That if we did not stop seeing each other that he would take another life. He wants you gone…or dead."

"I can handle myself well enough Yami," said Seto. "Don't worry."

"I can't help but worry Seto, I know what he is capable of," Yami murmured.

"We will handle him when we have to, until then, relax," Seto soothed, pulling back slightly before smiling down at Yami.

Sighing deeply Yami moved away from him, hand reaching into the sink. Retrieving the cloth from the frigid water he wrung it out and folding it placed it back over Seto's eye. "I'll try."

"Good," relaxing into the coolness of the cloth and Yami's touch, Seto closed his eyes. "We should go to bed soon, tomorrow's going to be a long day."

"How do you figure?"

"Funeral preparations."

Blinking in shock Yami peered at Seto, he had been so caught up in the incidents of the day that he had forgotten. "Dear Gods," he stammered, a single hand reaching up and cupping Seto's cheek forced the CEO to turn eyes nearly bursting with tears towards him. "I am so sorry, I've been so out of it that I nearly forgot. Is there anything I can do?"

Seto smiled at his again, appreciative of the concern, "Let me stay with you tonight?"

Hiding the uncertainty within him Yami nodded, "Of course."

Taking hold of Yami's hands Seto rose to his feet, pulling Yami with him. "It's late, we should go to bed."

Nodding in agreement Yami placed the cloth in the sink and pulled the plug, allowing the water to drain. Drying his hands he silently lead Seto into his room, turning off the lights and closing the bedroom door as he did so. Upon turning back to the CEO he found himself staring at said man as he stripped and clambered into his pj's, the lamp light his only guide. Blushing darkly he dropped his gaze, avoiding Seto's as the said Man turned to him.

"Did I make you uncomfortable?"

Giving a chaste nod Yami kept his gaze down, moving to retrieve his own pj's. Even though he felt childish he signaled for Seto to turn around while he changed. Finished he silently clambered into bed, inhaling sharply when Seto joined him, suddenly feeling his body go rigid in fear.

Sensing this Seto peered at him in the lamp light, "Are you alright with this Yami?"

Wrapping the covers tightly around himself Yami released a shaky breath, "I think so…give me a minute to adjust before you touch me. My body's just overeating."

"Am I rushing you?"

"I don't know," Yami murmured honestly. "I've never…been with anyone before."

Gently Seto ran the back of his fingers over Yami's cheeks, feeling the tremors lessen almost immediately from the soothing touch. Seeing Yami close his eyes he reached back and switched the light off leaving them in darkness, their only light was that from the moon outside. Slowly, and without persistence, Seto caressed Yami's arm, shoulder and side, trying to soothe his racing nerves.

After a few minutes Yami finally cuddled up to him, head resting against his shoulder and hands clinging to his shirt. Relieved he held Yami close, taking his own comfort from the young man's warmth and nearness.

"Thank you," Yami whispered somnolently. "For being patient."

"You're welcome," he said, pressing another kiss to Yami's brow. "Sleep, we both need to."

"Good night."

"Night Yami."

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The sensation of shaking and muffled noises awoke him abruptly. Trying to gain some sort of coherent thought or movement he shifted before suddenly stiffening at the feeling of a warm body next to him. In an instant he remembered the events of the evening and glanced up at the man holding him, his breath stopping as he realized what the man was doing. Seto was crying.

Pulling Seto closer to him he gently ran his hand over said man's back in soothing circles, his other hand rubbing Seto's neck. "Shhh…its alright."

"They are gone," Seto rasped out, his voice quiet, arms tightening around Yami. "My God…"

Suppressing his own tears Yami held Seto, continuing to caress and soothe him in the only way he knew. He whispered to him softly, the words passing from him clearly calming the CEO.

Minutes passed, long minutes, until Seto finally released an immense sigh in exhaustion, his sobbing done even though tears were still upon his face. Brushing aside the tears Yami shifted up in the bed till he was able to rest Seto's head upon his shoulder, reversing their roles.

"Thank you," Seto muttered.

"You're welcome."

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Two vibrant yellow roses were placed upon the freshly disturbed soil, their luminousness a bright contrast to the black marble stones that they were placed before. A light wind gently toyed with the petals of the flowers, making them dance loosely and mirroring the souls of those below them. The sun was setting low in the sky; orange, crimson, pink and violet streaking the sky above the harbor. The beauty and simplicity surrounding the two figures that stood over the two graves.

Yami remained silent and listened to Seto speak softly, not to him but to those that were laid to rest before them. He remained beside him, holding one of his hands gently, comfortingly. Soft lavender eye's watched the man beside him, Seto was smiling as he spoke of memorable moments, blissful moments. The CEO's beaming expression faded as his heart filled again with the pain of loss. Yami felt this and immediately moved closer to him, wrapping an arm around his waist and holding him closely allowing Seto to rest his head atop his own.

"This hurts," Seto murmured absently, his one arm snaking around Yami's shoulder's. "A lot more than I thought it would."

Tenderly Yami used his free hand to caress the hand that was draped over his one should, "It takes a long time Seto…believe me…even now I still have my hard days without her…"

"I know."

"Come," Yami said gently, moving back slightly and peering up into mournful cerulean eyes. "Let's go home, you need to rest and relax."

"Alright," Seto sighed, chancing one last look at the two graves before allowing Yami to lead him back towards the car. His heart ached, he did not want to leave them alone even though he knew that they were no longer truly there. They were at his side and in his heart, forever there and forever smiling.

**A/N:**_ Sorry again for this taking so long. I would have had it update a week ago, but this last scene was rather difficult to write, my Grandmother's funeral is still clear in my mind. So, I incorporated her into the scene in my own little way. Her favourite follower was the yellow rose. Anyway, I hope all of you liked this chapter and that you will forgive me for my slowness (those that had the patience to wait for this chapter). Thanks to all of you that are still reading this, its greatly appreciated. _


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